Can you imagine if someone had the nerve to sing a song with the line, “And the Muslim extremists were singing ‘Death to the godless infidels’ as they flew their hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center?” Now, I don’t think that would go over too well. Yet, when Pretty & Nice use the Japanese war cry of “Tora Tora Tora,” the phrase they uttered when their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a success, as the starting point for their song of the same name. With herky, jerky new wave rhythms, and thrift store keyboards in tow,”Tora Tora Tora” sounds whimsical, and fun, like something I should be singing in the shower. This can’t be a war cry. They must mean “Tora Tora Tora” as in “Tiger Tiger Tiger” and not “Tora Tora Tora” as in torpedo attack. Tiger parties are fun, right?

MP3: Pretty & Nice – Tora Tora Tora

Pretty & Nice
Hardly Art Records

photo by Brian Tamborello