This anticipated debut full-length from Torontos Hunter Valentine drags you into tainted lullabies and hoarse pleas for remorse. It will leave you bruised, battered and blubbering, and just as soon you catch your breath youll want to go through the whole thing again. The Impatient Romantic deserves no words less than stunning, astonishing and unbelievable. Vocalist Kiyomi McCloskeys voice gets caught in the light that shines through the rips and snags, transforming every word into a churning, soulful howl that blends with the rupturing bass lines and garage-inflected guitars. Album opener "Typical is a furious tangle of McCloskeys husky energies, while "The Problem With Devotion and "Rotting Love Guts, despite the song title, both see Hunter Valentine mellowing out but never losing the halo of thorns that orbits around every beat this trio pound out. The Impatient Romantic is the sound of nervous breakdowns and broken romances, of whiskey shots at two a.m. and clenched fists, and one that shows what so many have figured about Hunter Valentine already: that they are a band to fall in love with.
(High Romance/True North, www.truenorthrecords.com)
(True North)(High Romance/True North, www.truenorthrecords.com)
