Laura Ashley comeback 2K11 – IT IS ON!…
[Video][Myspace]
[5.83]
Jer Fairall: If you’re gonna crib from a classic pop source, “California Dreaming” is as good as any, but at least try to match that great downcast melody with something resembling even a quarter of the original’s melancholic longing or haunted lyrical resonance. Captivating video, though.
[5]
W.B. Swygart: There’s a spark missing, maybe cos the voices are so flat – I can see what they’re getting at, and I can see that the hook’s alright, but I can’t quite get from seeing to feeling. And I can’t stop thinking that I used to really like The Ladybug Transistor.
[6]
Josh Langhoff: Some good ol’ diaphragmatic breath support would do wonders for their intonation, if not their anemic sound, but the harmonies are distinctive and it’s got a good hook. Quentin Tarantino could probably find a use for it.
[6]
Martin Skidmore: Played and sung as if they don’t much care about how they sound, so I’m not sure why they expect us to. The almost plainsong harmonies are sort of intriguing, but otherwise it’s dull and close to inept.
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: In five years, I hope we’ll look back upon the Dum Dum Girls/Warpaint trend of all-female groups as a wonderful development for both girls and music. There’s a really early Throwing Muses song called “Dirt Is On The Floor.” It isn’t a Muses song per se, as the lineup wasn’t yet finalized (Elaine Adamedes in, Leslie Langston not.) But it’s still among my favorites; it’s so clearly the sound of a bunch of girls discovering this awesome thing called music and the sheer joy contained within, and the sound of songcraft breaking through despite being assembled out of necessity from presets and knickknacks and a Casio on an ironing-board stand. The Vivian Girls have obviously spent more time in the studio, but there’s the same glee here in how their voices zip around one another, leaving enough contrails to build a wall of sound from air. What the Pipettes do for flourish, they do for pure gumption.
[8]
Anthony Easton: Harmony is beautiful, and I think that makes it enough for the work to be genuinely interesting. I am not quite convinced of it, but I’m willing to give it more rope.
[7]