Semi Precious Weapons
We Love You (Razor & Tie)
By Emily Becker
Published: September 15th, 2008 | 9:00am
Usually it’s a milestone when a band releases its first record, but for NYC’s Semi Precious Weapons, the official release of the band’s debut, We Love You, is almost an afterthought. Fans had been able to download a free digital copy of We Love You from SPW’s website for months.
The band also gave away hard copies of the record with every purchase of Fetty jewelry, a line designed by frontman Justin “Precious” Tranter. Fetty’s success has bankrolled the band of late; there’s even an upscale version of the jewelry available at Barney’s CO-OP, which features little diamonds spelling “You” and “Yes” in Braille.
Tranter sums up the band concisely on “Semi Precious Weapons” as he wails, “I’ve got a diamond in my pocket and a gun in my purse / Scream ‘Semi Precious Weapons’ or you might get hurt.” SPW is obviously on a mission to shock and entertain, but one of the most surprising things about We Love You is the band’s range: While I could have done without the reworking of Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three’s “The Roof Is On Fire” (“Her Hair Is On Fire”), most of the songs are fun and intense whether the energy level is off the charts (as on the infectious “Magnetic Baby”), or a bit more subdued as on “Genius” or “Time Zones.”
Though Tranter has certainly pulled himself up by his own stilettos, one thing that separates the members of SPW from some of their glam and punk predecessors is that they're not making it up as they go along. The band definitely has a plan to build its reputation like a brand (SPW even sells Tranter’s eye makeup and lip gloss from its web store), but fortunately, it rarely feels corporate or manipulative. As it states on the Fetty website, Fetty jewelry is “a part of the Precious empire.” Fortunately for their listeners, Semi Precious Weapons only plan to take over the world one live gig at a time, and for that we should be grateful.
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Semi Precious Weapons’ official site
Semi Precious Weapons’ MySpace page
Issue #25
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