The Suicide of Miss Melancholy is a band from Martinsburg, West Virginia. It is led by a guy named Joshua Frattarola. This disc is one of those really nice surprises that comes my way from time to time. Something really good that comes completely unexpectedly, out of nowhere. Frattarola's songwriting is surprisingly refined for a guy making songs with his brother and friends in his free time. The group's playing is pretty tight and skillfull and there is care and craft in the recording and mix.

Despite suffering from some serious pretention issues, Integrity Is Plastique is an exceptionally well put together song cycle (that's another way of saying "rock opera") about a young man's spiritual crisis. There's not a strict narrative or anything, but you can follow a general line of question, doubt, and wonder giving over to faith. The record has vaguely Christian themes, but certainly doesn't beat you over the head with them. It's a spiritual record, but not necessarily a religious one.

This disc is strongly recommended to people who don't mind getting a little folk in their rock, who are into that old "album-oriented-rock" format and maybe little soft-prog; and, of course, people who like to wrassle that timeless question, "How did I get here and now what?"

--Edward McElvain
September 2003