The album It's Hard To Find A Friend (Made In Mexico, 1998 - Jade Tree, 2001), recorded by the lone Bazan, perfected this kind of lo-fi slo-core and enhanced it with melodic hooks worthy of Magnetic Fields: Big Trucks, When They Really Get To Know You, Of Minor Prophets And Their Prostitute Wives. The lyrics manifest Bazan's intellectual wit and his willingness to take on thorny subjects.

The EP The Only Reason I Feel Secure , with the catchy albeit slow Invention and Criticism As Inspiration, is a deign appendix. The reissued The Only Reason I Feel Secure (Jade Tree, 2001) also contains the first single.

David Bazan played all instruments on Winners Never Quit (Jade Tree, 2000), an eight-song concept album about a corrupted politician. His moral tales (the angry and acoustic Bad Things To Such Good People, the sarcastic Slow and Steady Wins the Race, the scathing Never Leave A Job Half Done) prevail over the music. Simple Economics, Winners Never Quit and A Mind Of Her Own showcase a balance of lyrical and musical intents, but overall Bazan is becoming too serious for his own sake.

Pedro The Lion e' il progetto di David Bazan, proveniente da Seattle e per lungo tempo associato al compositore Damien Jurado. Con una formazione a quattro il gruppo registro' l'EP d'esordio, Whole (Tooth & Nail, 1997), immerso in anemici canti funebri quali Whole e Nothing con tracce dello slow core dei Codeinea (Almost There e Lullaby).

L'album It's Hard To Find A Friend (Made In Mexico, 1998 - Jade Tree, 2001) perfeziono' questo lo-fi slow-core e lo miglioro' con agganci melodici degni di Magnetic Fields: Big Trucks, When They Really Get To Know You, Of Minor Prophets And Their Prostitute Wives. I testi manifestano tutto l'acume intellettuale di Bazan e la sua buona volonta' nel farsi carico di soggetti spinosi.

L'EP The Only Reason I Feel Secure, con le orecchiabili, per quanto lente Invention e Criticism As Inspiration, ne e' la degna appendice.

David Bazan suona tutti gli strumenti su Winners Never Quit (Jade Tree, 2000), un concept album di otto canzoni incentrato sulla figura di un politico corrotto. Le sue storie morali (l'arrabbiata e acustica Bad Things To Such Good People, la sarcastica Slow and Steady Wins the Race, l'aspra Never Leave A Job Half Done) prevalgono sulla musica. Simple Economics, Winners Never Quit e A Mind Of Her Own mostrano un equilibriato connubio di propensioni liriche e musicali, ma nel complesso Bazan sta divenendo troppo serio per la sua propria causa.

Bazan, the master of pathos, seems incapable of stirring emotions on Achilles Heel (Jade Tree, 2004). While in theory this should be the first Pedro The Lion album in a while that is not anchored to a central theme, the songs come through as too uniform and, ultimately, monotonous. With the notable exceptions of the elegant dirge Bands With Managers and the murder ballad Discretion, Maybe he's trying too hard with the lyrics, that sometimes seem more appropriate to a movie script than to a pop song. We are better off imagining the plot of Transcontinental than humming its chorus. If it is not blue-collar rock and it is not confessional rock, what is it? This is music in need of more interesting arrangements.

Headphones (Suicide Squeeze, 2005) is an all-electronic collaboration between Pedro The Lion's David Bazan and TW Walsh (with drums by Starflyer 59's Frank Lenz). This is still mostly a Pedro The Lion album, as attested by Gas and Matches, Shit Talker and Hot Girls that easily outdo the average song on the mediocre Achilles Heel. But it doesn't change the fact that one has to make an effort not to listen to Bazan's lyrics (yet another stereotyped lyricist who thinks of himself as a groundbreaking bard, or, worse, an erudite historian). Focusing on the music, one is much relieved, as the synthesizer duo plus drums is indeed an intriguing chamber orchestra for pop music. Unfortunately, half the songs do not live up to the concept. Had Bazan removed the filler, it would have been a very nice EP.

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