Lithium Magazine

Manina Productions

By: Aaron Binder

www.myspace.com/pinupsaints

Confidence is a great thing to have.  Knowing your limits, working within them and always making sure that those boundaries are being pushed is the foundation that any over-achiever can agree to.  Over-confidence can be the great destroyer; luckily for the Pinup Saints, every time they re-invent themselves and morph, they always seem to improve while avoiding cockiness.  Their new disc 'Helluva' is a brave new step forward, the group has started to build on top of their pure sex approach to music and included a lot of new elements to their sound.

Lead singers, Raul Campuad and Wynn Holmes have taken it upon themselves to include synth and drum machines into the mix to round out the sound of guitarist/drummer combo Marc-Andre Gilbert and Pierre-Luc Rioux.  The Pinup Saints have always been an exceptional live band, but their first EP, Golden, didn’t translate the live energy well to recording.  The second time seems to be the charm, Helluva is jam-packed with catchy beats, thick-sounding production and an energy that screams ‘dance dance baby, ‘cause the world is ending tomorrow’.

Helluva is a major step forward for the core of the Pinup Saints, the sound is far more refined and dare I say a little more mellow than their previous productions.  The disc starts off strong and keeps going, although all of the songs are well built, ‘Like the 1st Time’ may be a little too bubblegum for even the most straight and narrow listener.  Where 1st Time may be a little washed out, a song like ‘Heaven Knows’ exhibits a lot of depth and a similar upbeat attitude while keeping the intensity that the band is known for.

This is a great direction for the band, Raul and Wynn have created some wonderful harmonies on the EP and focus on some personal sounding lyrics which only make the group more accessible.  If this is a taste of what is to come from the band in the future, this constantly morphing band may have found a style that fits their almost shock inducing live show while staying solid musically as well.  You also can't hate on any album that manages to turn a cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' into a Cardigans-esque synth-dream.

If you want to give the EP a spin, just check out their website - to stream the new songs.

They don't have a new music video out yet, so enjoy 'Mister' off of their first EP, Golden.