Saturday, September 19, 2009

New music reviews: Good time grooves



The Wild - The Wild EP

Looking to extend summer past its September 22nd expiration date? The Wild's debut EP was released over Fourth of July weekend and as such is full of songs ideal for campfires, the beach, and other summery locations. The EP's five tracks are full of harmonica, twangy guitar (both acoustic and electric), and wistful vocals singing about singing along to songs and missing friends and, well, summer. See the theme here? Unfortunately, the final two tracks sort of just plod along and are less interesting than the first three. But hey, considering the EP's available to download for free, you have no excuse not to download the album to see how big of a smile emerges on your face from hearing the first three songs.

You can download the EP for free from Quote Unquote Records.



Girls - Album

Sporting the retro lo-fi sound that's so popular in 2009, Album by the much talked about San Francisco band Girls succeeds by making songs that would be catchy and powerful with or without member Chet White's production trickery. First track "Lust for Life" is neither a Stooges cover nor about a lust for life (just for romantic companionship, a common theme in the album), but that won't stop you from singing and dancing along to the song. Later, singer Christopher Owens tells a girl named "Laura" that he wants to be "friends forever" despite the fact that she's been "a bitch" and he's been "an ass." Whatever, right? Then the beautiful Beach Boys-esque outro hits and once the song ends, you're left wondering how 4 minutes and 44 seconds passed by so quickly. Other moments, like the percussion in "God Damned" and the lyrics and overall mood of "Hellhole Ratrace" ("And I don't wanna cry my whole life through/I wanna do some laughing too/So c'mon and laugh with me"), serve to keep your ears perked throughout the course of the album. Overall, Album is big, bold, and bashful. Don't get turned off by the hype - make sure to check it out.

Album will be released on September 22nd by True Panther Records. You can stream the whole album on True Panther's website right now.

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