The Birthday Massacre

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The Birthday Massacre give bland, computerized music a make-over by combining two different genres (electronica and rock, aka rocktronica) that would seem to clash if they weren't blended with just the right amount of color. Chibi, the lead singer, has a voice that takes plain old vanilla ice cream rock and gives it a good dose of purple sprinkles. A little less girlie than the color pink, Chibi's voice offers an unexpected but perfect amount of lightness that contrasts with the generally heavier notes created by airy synthesized sounds mixed with lower guitar tones. Borderlining goth rock while incorporating dreampop/electronica elements, The Birthday Massacre create an appealing, unmatched sound that's upbeat while, paradoxically, slightly macabre.

If you judged their album by it's cover, you'd get a good idea of what their music represents: Something dark and youthful, almost like a musical fairytale including goblins and a Peter pan-like hero. But you'd never guess they liked creating songs like "To Die For" with simple lyrics and a happy tune. Nonetheless, they do stay true to their image by covering heavier topics overshadowed by mysteriosly eerie sounds in songs like "Video Kid" and "Kill the Lights".

If you took all of the fun Halloween memories you had as a kid, collected them in a jar, then threw in a few sparkles, you'd end up with a snowglobe that resembles what The Birthday Massacre creates with music-something that's easy to grasp and hard to let go of, once you've seen and heard what it can do.