Review
Edie Sedgwick
Her Love is Real...

Desoto (2005) Neil

Edie Sedgwick – Her Love is Real... cover artwork
Edie Sedgwick – Her Love is Real... — Desoto, 2005

Taking his moniker from the notorious Andy Warhol actress and one time girlfriend of Bob Dylan, Justin Moyer of El Guapo/ Supersystem has created for himself a whole new persona. Dragged up, transvestite sheik is Moyer's game, like a revamped Ziggy Stardust for the post- LCD Soundsystem generation. His aim? To derail celebrity worship, or perhaps just to make you dance.

With everyone and their retarded cousin buzzin' about concept albums these days, it comes as no surprise that Moyer (or Sedgwick, whatever) has clambered on the bandwagon, pumps and all. The shtick to drag you away from that Green Day album you've been clinging to for the past twelve months is simply centering every song on a different celebrity, except big Arnie Schwarzenegger - who gets two, and naming it after them. 'Robert Downey Jr.' features a chorus of 'Relapse! Recovery!', while his possible dislike for Ally McBeal and that terrible Charlie's Angels movie appears on 'Lucy Liu' ('Girl power! ... Bullshit!). The message can come off as a little hollow if you take it at face value, but then is he being ironic? Post Ironic?! Post pseudo intellectual funky disco ironic?!! Probably not, so just shift straight onto the actual music, which sadly seems to get overlooked by most reviews in favor of a full blown dissection of the meaning behind the glammed up, 5 o'clock shadow sporting lady boy Moyer on the cover. It's full on electroclash, with hints of sassy punk, dirty synths and some major nods to Liquid Liquid, Devo, Suicide and contemporaries like The Soft Pink Truth. When it all comes together the product is excellent and invigorating, as on the pulsing 'Sigourney Weaver' ('In a world where creatures come out at night/ there's a world where girls and girls cum at night') or chant along 'Martin Sheen'.

Her Love Is Real...But She Is Not provides something for all the kids who got bored with Peaches shaking her prosthetic phallus up in their faces, but still feel the need to grind their asses together on some sweaty dance floor downtown. Notable by their absence are Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson, but then maybe Mu had dibs on those particularly tragic cases.

Narcissistic? Certainly. Style over substance? Quite probably. But then that appears to be the point. Wither Edie Sedgwick the band has the same lifespan as Edie Sedgwick the person remains to be seen, but for now one thing seems certain, this record is destined for hip alternative metrosexual discos worldwide. But then that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned, for I like Edie, adhere to the profound statement made by the intellectual giant of out time, Ms Britney Spears, in 'Crossroads': 'I regret that I have but one ass to shake upon the dance floors of these great United States.'

7.7 / 10Neil • August 25, 2005

Edie Sedgwick – Her Love is Real... cover artwork
Edie Sedgwick – Her Love is Real... — Desoto, 2005

Recently-posted album reviews

Circuit des Yeux

Halo On The Inside
Matador (2025)

Haley Fohr's artistic vehicle, Circuit des Yeux, defies categorisation. Stamping the indie folk label on her was superficial, something dispelled easily once you have experienced the lo-fi distortion of "The Girl With No Name." It might be that under the layers of sonic disfigurement, a folk ethos is present in Fohr's narrative sensibility, but it is no longer the same. … Read more

ZEPHR

Past Lives
Dumb Ghost, Snappy Little Numbers (2025)

Sometimes you can just hear the passion in a voice. ZEPHR is one of those bands. They defy convention a little bit, in that I associate gravelly voices with harsher, heavier sounds, but ZEPHR use sore-throat vocals to great effect with midtempo, emotional and melodic 3-chord chugging punk rock and some DC sound. In few words, it's raw, both musically … Read more

Kreiviskai

Motinai
Infinite Fog Productions (2025)

Kreiviskai's origins are deeply rooted in the neofolk sound and ethos. Their debut record, Zemmis : supnãi, focuses on the musical lineage of Tver, embracing the traditional instrumentation to produce a somber and moving piece. Their follow-up record, Nonregnum expands outward, focusing on various historical events and introducing further influences. The pull of neo-classical is palpable, while the abrasive industrial … Read more