Smile Smile - Truth On Tape

Genre indie-pop Publisher Kirtland Records

Singer/guitarist Ryan Hamilton and singer/pianist Jencey Hirunrusme are the Dallas duo otherwise known as Smile Smile. The music details their personal lives as a couple: all of the initial attraction, butterflies, compromises, and eventual upheaval, betrayal, and romantic despair. Despite the failure of their personal relationship, they continued making happy-go-lucky countrified pop music. Truth on Tape, which is set to be released on February 9, is the sophomore album chronicling the end of a union and the beginning of a finely tuned emotional exploitation.

The album is replete with simple chords, catchy melodies, and a breathy female vocalist. One would think that this would be the perfect equation for Casey Kasem and late-night talk show notoriety. I can’t get over Jencey’s musical resemblance to Metric’s phenomenal lead, Emily Haines and Morcheeba’s Skye Edwards. Sans Hirunrusme vocals, the album emits a whiny emo vibe that attempts to meld angsty folk with Roadhouse attitude. I could have been deceived into thinking I was listening to Ryan Adams, and not Hamilton, except for the superficial and overly didactic lyrics.

While all of us can relate to heartbreak, this album doesn’t really offer much toward mending wounds but rather causing them to fester. This is a bittersweet yet energizing compilation of ditties on love gone wrong. If you want some serious introspection and reflection on hard times, dealing with bastard lovers, you’d better get down and dirty.

We all know what it's like to cope with a break-up. Your heart gets torn out; you feel like your innards have gone through a cheese grater and that no one in the history of the world has ever felt such torment. We walk through the minefield of life determined to stay strong and suffer silently, valiantly. Finally, we cross the unyielding stages of grief: denial, anger, guilt, and acceptance. All the while, we must have an ally, an escape, or simply, a veil. Some of us turn to gin, others turn to music. We embrace the pain and abysmal sadness only to then muster up our last bits of self-respect and become empowered.

When it comes to the battlefield of love, as Pat Benatar so poignantly sang, we all need a tourniquet. Truth on Tape is more like an Elmo Band-Aid.