Pedro the Lion
's
Dave Bazan
is an observant Christian who wears his sins on his sleeve. Still, there's a sweetness about his outlook and journey on
It's Hard to Find a Friend
. The songs offer nice detail: he finds his girlfriend has ticket stubs to a movie she saw with someone, but not him; and he wishes he could become the disciplined person a friend is "for a few habit-forming years." There's some real grace and poetry in the lyrics, and the music is spare, simple, and hypnotic.
Bazan
seems to be a musical hybrid of
Moe Tucker
and
Daniel Johnston
, with a dash of
Brian Wilson
(
"The Longer I Lay Here"
) and
Popol Vuh
"The Bells"
). A brotherly gem. ~ David Dwyer