Golden Grrrls
Self titled
Reviewed by Michele Zipkin
The tunes on the first self-titled, Slumberland-released album of Glasgow-based Golden Grrrls are catchy and addictive. Perhaps inspired by (or definitely similar to) ’80s and ’90s riot (girl) bands like Bikini Kill or Beat Happening, Rauri Maclean, Eilidh Rodgers and Rachel Aggs are keeping it simple and kicking it old school with their brand of indie garage rock. In their case, less is certainly more.
Take the song “Paul Simon” for instance- you’ve got your typical drums/bass/guitar and vocals as main components in the song, but those two simple riffs that drive the beat are so easy to like. Let’s get real- nine times out of ten all you need is an infectious riff and you’ve got a good song. “Past Tense” is a strong track and really has a melody and overall vibe (between the bass-line guitar lick and very nonchalant vocals) that sounds like it genuinely fits in with all those ‘80s underground bands.
The instrumental work on a lot of these songs (“Think of the Ways”) is stronger than the vocal work- the singing seems to blend right into the rest of some of the tracks, like the volume on the amps is too high, and sometimes lacks distinct melody (“Older Today”). That’s the one thing left to be desired on this record- if the vocals were a bit more in the forefront, those main melodies (some of which are quite lovely and are really the heart and soul of a song) would be more audible. We could however chalk this up to the riot/punk/garage style, in which case the band is just following in the footsteps of tradition. However, strong vocal performances can be heard in “Date It”. The album definitely has the slight distort of live performances recorded to tape.
With their varying musical tastes and backgrounds, the three musicians are writing songs that come from the heart- they’re not faking anything here or trying to sound like anybody in particular, and there’s something to be said for that.
Rating: listenable
