For singer/songwriters, tales of love and revenge are the bread and butter for great songs. However, as cliché as these songs may be, sometimes heartbreak explores and refines a songwriter’s identity. This is the story behind Peter Squires’ Woe Is Me.

From the age of 9, Squires picked up his first instrument and has been playing since. The multi-talented musician has mastered instruments ranging from trombone to bass guitar and everything in between. On a high school band trip to New Orleans, Squires dazzled students in the Lower Ninth Ward and left them chanting, “Pete, Pete, Pete!” as he rocked their school auditorium. As the years wore on, Squires was in and out of several bands including World’s Best Uncle, Monster Eiffel Tower and most notably to this writer, The Sin Destroyers, a mock Christian heavy metal outfit. Though the joke was clearly on those not in the know, the fun could only last for so long before it got old. This leads us to Woe Is Me.

This ten-song album takes you down a path of hurt and sorrow that unfortunately for the singer, is all too real. Like one of his influences, the Prince of Gloom himself, Morrissey, Squires keeps things playful while bearing his soul to the world. He wrote and recorded the album in his Brooklyn bedroom as a way to cope with a devastating breakup. What was his loss became our gain. The bard sings with such raw emotion and brings a type of energy that you can’t help but want to give the guy a hug. However, this album isn’t about looking back; it’s about moving forward. On songs like “The Wrong Way to Monterey” and “Three Months Underwater,” the singer reflects on his time with scorn, yet is willing to move on and look towards a brighter future.

Woe Is Me is not as simple as the title would suggest. Squires’ excellent musicianship gives the album a warm feeling that doesn’t reflect the battery acid of the lyrics. This is most prevalent on the title track, where Squires calls out the cowardice of his former girlfriend by saying that at least his recently deceased mother, though having cancer, had the guts to fight and be honest, rather than scornful. The lyrics are painful, but Squires, in his own way, makes pain sound good.

Squires is currently residing in Maine working on his second full length. No matter what the end result is you can be assured the pain and suffering that came along with Woe Is Me can put to bed as a thing of the past. Having conquered some his inner demons, look for the singer/songwriter to have brighter future ahead.