In the Glaswegian crowded musical desert, it has become difficult over the past few years to stand out.
Hundreds of new bands thrive every year, making it sometimes impossible to give enough attention to all of them.
Sound, texture, imaginary and arrangements; all those concepts have become keys to impress the crowd, however the more bands, the more styles, which make it tough now and again to jump on certain band wagons.
It Girl’s debut, Neon Signs, makes the listener dive into an abrupt and obscure deep sea where nothing is friendly and where one can almost feel the darkness expanding.
The band is completely in touch with the post punk movement and the baritone voice of the lead singer exposes the influence of Interpol or Editors.
The guitars are screaming, almost howling to the moon, the band’s musical ability creates a gloomy and insecure universe with seven different sides, represented by the seven different tracks.
All collide to generate the same tension and insistence on the idea of decay; ‘Hailey Commits’ exposes this modern sadness especially with the chorus: “You are nothing/ I am nothing without you”.
The EPs main force is that it is driven forward by talented musicians that juggle their musical palette well enough to produce an interesting release.
The Paul Banks-esque monotone voice of the lead singer is not the only thing that makes this band very close to Interpol, indeed the bass is used as a foreground instrument especially on ‘Followed and Found’ and holds an important share of the rhythm section in the entire EP.
This music will not fulfil everybody’s desires, but who manages this trick nowadays.
It Girl seem to have an intriguing vision of their own era that makes their music quite absorbing and captivating, Neon Signs is a solid EP that would be very well appreciated during the not-so-warm summer nights.
Words: Jeremy Veyret
Rave Child 