Pink Nasty

Mold the Gold

With help from previous collaborator Will Oldham, brother Black Nasty, and Austin’s Chepo Peña, Pink Nasty (aka Sara Beck) has progressed from 2004’s folky Mule School. “I Don’t Know” is a fine start, but the opener probably should have been the next track. Beck’s living in Wichita led to “BTK Blues,” a rumination on the infamous serial killer bound with suburban boredom, and a testament to her own “neurotic pop” label. An ominous bassline thumps underneath – and then the chorus: “It’s dark now, you should head home.” Pink wastes no time: “There’s a killer on the loose and I’m not even fazed. He wouldn’t want me anyway.” The bubbly “Take It Back” is another snarky standout (“I just got your text and it was triple X”), and “Away Message” whirls through choppy guitar, Pink pleading, “You said so much how you want me to die.” The title track smokes, plodding across the “dead, dead grass” into a swell of noise, while closer “Don’t Ever Change” is a Marvin/Tammi power ballad with the Pink/Oldham vocal exchange “Please don’t wear any make-up. Please, baby, won’t you shut the fuck up.” Mold the Gold proves an infectious tribute to suburban malaise and the romance therein. (Pink Nasty opens for Britt Daniel, Thursday, Nov. 2 at the Parish)

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This article appears in November 3 • 2006.

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