Released 06/07/09, Fantasy Trashcan/ Turnstile



Shimmying into focus with knee-trembling surf guitar and splashes of tambourine, ‘Hellhole Ratrace’ comes on like some great lost Phil Spector production, an impression reinforced by the veritable brick edifice of feedback and girly vocals which surges forth midway.  But unlike Spector and his implacable grasp of pop immediacy, San Francisco’s Girls merely grasp at a vain, torturously drawn-out pomposity. ‘I don’t wanna die/ without shaking up a leg or two/ I wanna do some dancing too’ croaks Man From Girls, perhaps aiming for the broken-hearted junkie glamour of Johnny Thunders’ ‘You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory’.  But whereas Thunders had rueful wit and the pathos of wasted ambition to set his self-pity ablaze, Man From Girls has only bumble-arsed platitudes and a snotty, self-regarding gurgle of a voice which fatally recalls Bob Geldof. ‘Come on and dance with me’ he pleads as the song finally drags itself past the six minute (!) mark, having varied not once in tune or pace. He’ll be waiting a long time for someone to take him up on that offer.

Posted In Single Reviews, Jul 04 2009. Words - Richard