Rating: NNNN
The first thing that stands out about PS I Love You’s sophomore album is how big it sounds. Like their acclaimed debut, Death Dreams was mostly recorded in their Kingston practice studio, yet there’s constant movement between the sense of a punishingly loud, claustrophobic space and the feeling of driving down an empty highway with the windows open and the stereo cranked. The arrangements are also less tightly wound, although they certainly haven’t reached prog rock territory.
As always, the main appeal lies in how honest and real it all feels. When some guitarists lay into ripping solos and lightning-fast finger-tapping, it seems like theatrics. When Paul Saulnier indulges, you get the sense it’s simply the most direct way for him to express the feelings in his heart. That might sound over-earnest, but that’s the point: PS I Love You make hard rock for sensitive souls and aren’t ashamed of it.
Much has been made of the influence of 90s alt-rock on their sound, but that’s to ignore all the other eras of guitar music also referenced. Yes, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr loom large in Death Dreams, but so do Cheap Trick, which is exactly why PS I Love You are far more sincere than the average hipster rock band.
