U.S. Girls

Unless I'm super bad at searching for things (entirely possible), it seems there isn't much U.S. Girls chatter here? I thought she was pretty popular, relatively speaking.

Started listening to her tracks in the last month or so. Damn, she's good. Goth/dance/dub/pop/courageous singing/killer lyrics... a bit to get quite excited about here. Moves things on a bit from the Maria Minerva template, I think.

"Damn That Valley" has a demented skank that probably serves as a fine enough entry point:
https://youtu.be/93yOrb04Eao

New track is great too:
https://youtu.be/x9IMOrF_6EE

She's playing Boston in November. Anybody seen her live?

Saw her a few months back. Decent show, just her and some tape recorders, plus she's very cool. Damn That Valley is a good somng.

Amazeballs

was played some of her stuff recently - there's definitely something there. full 7-minute 'woman's work' is v cool

fun album

does the rest of it measure up to 'woman's work'?

it's consistently good, but that would be one of the high points

of the whole year, let alone this album

I've been a bit obsessed with "Sororal Feelings" the last couple of days.

yeah the whole album is amazing. wonder why ilx isn't raving about it

I am really into this but the voicemail skit doesn't do anything for me

oh shit a whole minute of the album, ruined

great album - honestly I don't think it's being snubbed or anything, there's just such a ludicrous bounty of great stuff this year

the voicemail is an essential piece imo. 'instead of another woman with no self-esteem.' it informs so much of her attitude. i was an early fan but lost track after go grey. this album is perfect and i can't wait to see her again. last time was probably 2007 at silent barn and it was mesmerizing. not tryin to see her with peaches tho.

she is one of the best going round

"Window Shades" is terrific.

I am really into this but the voicemail skit doesn't do anything for me

central to the whole album imo. it's not a voicemail either

I think it's more its place in the album - it would be a great opening or memorable closer - it slows the momentum down for me.

it's intentionally disruptive i think

the first minute of "window shades" so beautiful the way it unfolds

I had somehow lost track of her after Go Grey. Just got Half Free and really like it, now I need to get GEM. I loved her more scabrous stuff, but I'm impressed with how she's managed to navigate accessibility and keep her discomforting edge.

ok so i had no idea window shades heavily samples an old disco classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqprictNQW8

"heavily samples" is an understatement

Half Free is incredible - parts of it a bit Prince - very lush and late night dance floor kind of vibe - has anyone heard the wee ep Free Advice Column ? - came out around same time I think - i think four other songs not on GF - any good etc???

Yeah, 28 Days from that EP is nice. Her voice has a '60s girl group timbre to it.

she's always had that thing going on with her voice yea - i think she is pretty open about her love of ronnie spector/ girl groups from 60s etc ..i am just interested in whats going on with this ep - it came out round the same time as half free - is it just incoherent leftovers or something else again? maybe i will track it down online somewhere

both advance singles from the next record have been extremely strong, i'm excited

Agree!

great stuff

regulate vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9PLXHDEUFE

Didn't like the new track so much, which goes to show how strong the first two were

Haven’t heard the new one but “velvet” really fell in my assessment after several listens, not sure what happened. Just seemed kind of empty, couldn’t really suss what she was getting at?

nah that one's gr8

this would seem to be her funk album

Her voice really reminds me of stefani on mad as hell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cFnewlPpzI

dopest

that grew on me over its length. helps that i like finches and avians in general

it really is going to be her funk album - unless they've all been funky and i've not noticed until now

the guy in the video is her husband which is nice (apparently he's a musician of localised renown himself)

like this album and this piece https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/2/12/17003518/u-s-girls-meg-remy-in-a-poem-unlimited-profile

that's quite a title

headline aside the album is great

Looking forward to hearing this. She reminds me of Solex, especially on sororal feelings - never a bad thing

Maybe my favourite band going rn? idk anymore I love this music so much

new album's great

totally.
as good a place to hop into the U.S. Girls thing as any other album, for sure.

Raffles and fgti otm

L-o-v-e-r is such a great bad romance track. Love the theme of vouching for your sensitivity in a cold relationship

gave this a first listen while coming in to work. This is good.

hooooly shit 'incidental boogie'!!!

Yeah this album is great

on a par with Half Free but it's a good par

'poem' is another excellent non-single

Mad As Hell (aka MAH), Rosebud, Incidental Boogie are excellent. The other singles are pretty nifty too.

Mad As Hell is so great!

I'm loving the angry swirl of this record.

hell yeh this rules

I love "Half Free"'s A-side more than any other record ever, prob

Not meant to detract from either artist in saying this, but I've always been annoyed that the sound-world that Solex proposed wasn't further explored by other artists subsequently, and to my ears US Girls are exploring and expanding that world

Fgti, I mentioned solex earlier - great minds ;-)

She's hard to beat tho and underrated but US Girls are definitely carrying that torch

Nothing here quite as incredible as Woman's Work but then I think that was my #1 in the 2015 traxpoll

Incidental Boogie definitely from the same sound-world mind you

M.A.H. is awesome. I like the whole record, need to listen more. I sort of miss her scabrous noise days, but it's also cool that she's done a whole range of things since then.

Also 2nd/3rd the otms about Solex.

Might have heard part of the last album but this is the first new thing i’ve bought in forever without really knowing what it would sound like. Seems great so far.

(Just realized I have used the word scabrous twice in this thread, which is probably overselling her scabrousness. But she was pretty murky, kind of industrial. I love the new stuff too.)

The timbre of her voice on this record in particular reminds me a lot of mid-90s Kylie.

i've been thinking the exact same thing, Will!

Yeah, spot on. Put this on and after a few songs my girlfriend asked "uh...are you listening to a Kylie Minogue album?"

it hadn't occurred to me but she really does sound so much like Kylie

this album is excellent & so is her band. i was surprised to learn that Rage of Plastic and Time are both covers, they're so thoroughly transformed. Time is especially a highlight

here are the originals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH39LembpDQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1L-YQK756g

Kylie, yes, but Olivia Newton-John more.

alfred otm. also this record is glorious

I'm obsessed with Mad As Hell at the moment. It kind of reminds of Don't Talk To Me About Love by Altered Images which is one of my favourite songs ever. The rest of the album is slowly growing on me.

Loved the last album.
But this one?

The singles were coming out, and I wasn't completely convinced, but...
Hearing them, partnered with "Incidental Boogie", "L-Over", etc etc + the ultra-fantastic "Rage of Plastics"... makes this album feel like a goddamn subtle(ish) self-possessed wonder.

Playing it over and over again.

Yeah, I played the shit out of Half Free and was lukewarm on "Mad As Hell" at first, but LOVE this album and couldn't possibly overrate it

Same!

What I really want to do is play "Rage of Plastics" over and over again, but I always end up listening to the whole thing.
THAT's how I know this is super good.

mad as hell giving me heart vibes

Vocally I'm getting Ida No vibes more than anything else

Exactly ! I also hear Kylie now that she’s been mentioned but my first thought was Glass Candy.

Mad as Hell actually reminds me of Blondie of all artists.

Hope you had help it get to the top 77 2017 poll, we need to get at least one song represented in next year’s poll.

I still hear Gwen stefani in her timbre but also a deep reverence for doo wop (Glenda Collins maybe?). Still prefer half free tho

Rage of
Plastics sounds like black velvet to me

"Incidental Boogie," an excellent Eno-worthy title, is my ear worm.

"Incidental Boogie" is terrific.
Probably my #2 after "Rage...".

As for the singing... while she doesn't (I don't think) have the natural ability or range of Billy Mackenzie,
I def hear a touch of him in her more adventurous or dramatic note/performance choices.

Yeah I love this album. "Pearly Gates" is my current jam, but it's all good -- one of those records that ends too soon so I just put it on again.

pearly gates is great but we can all admit it rips "regulate" right?

I think you meant "and" not "but" -- part of what makes it great!

fair enough

"Time" reminds me of some of the extended grooves on Remain in Light.

I disliked it at first because it evoked a lot of white art funk that I find stale but the last two minutes are sultry!

White art funk for sure, but it's got verve. And it does turn into a proper live jam at the end.

I figured out what "Rage of Plastics" reminds me of, even sonically: a jam from Approximately Infinite Universe-era Yoko.

whoa this album is good, i'd never listened to U.S. Girls before

I had, but I didn't give this album a full play until a couple nights ago. As I mentioned to Soto on fb, there's nothing else that not only sounds like this right now, but there's nothing even coming from the same place and her brain is tapped into a wholly different timeline than everyone else. I LOVE THIS RECORD.

^ otm

It is quite good. Need to listen to the older stuff now.

great record, i'm too old to keep up with the buzzing stuff these days but this is really good

I mentioned this in my review but what it reminds me of more than anything is From the Choirgirl Hotle

s/Hotel

excellent review katherine. Re Tori aspects- I wish I could see the Tori similarity but I can't

it's partly musical -- "Velvet 4 Sale" really, really reminds me of "Liquid Diamonds" or "Cruel," or jumping ahead things like "Give" -- and partly the lyrics; "Pearly Gates" would fit right in with "Body and Soul," "God," etc. (less optimistic though)

i can see a similarity in the drum tempo to liquid diamonds for sure. definitely agree there's a thematic kinship as you pointed out in the review

it's an interesting one to consider, thanks

I like this record a lot but I'm not entirely convinced by the assertion that there's nothing much sounding like this now.

Besides the other vocal similarities/influences mentioned above, my wife made an I think astute association with early '80s Stevie Nicks. The whole album feels referential to that era, where disco and postpunk and new wave were all sliding around together. But it also doesn't feel retro. Interesting record with a lot of good songs.

there have been a couple of times when a track off this has come up on shuffle and I’ve been like wow, jenny hval has really upped her game oh wait

I just came out of their Vancouver concert and you best believe that Time is just as incredible live as you think it would be

Oh I was there too! And it was so good! And the band is still so new, I can’t even imagine how amazing they’ll be in a year

The full band versions of “Mad As Hell” and “Window Shades” were heavenly

Can't believe I forgot about that show

Saint etienne definitely seems a fair reference point for rosebud

going tonight

Also going tonight in Seattle. First time seeing her since 2008.

there's a Yelploaf now?

Yes, I've been here (by other names) since '03.

Anyhow, really enjoyed the show. She and her band, The Cosmic Range, seem primed for festival stages. I don't think it's the best vehicle for her, though. Street clothes, fronting a 7 piece band which vamps liberally... not the move. She danced out into the crowd for the last song and smacked me on the elbow. I didn't turn at first but she did it again and said something like, "Why so sad?"

Why indeed.

Oh, that band is not The Cosmic Range, btw, but Meg and her husband Max (Slim Twig) and a bunch of Toronto friends assembled for this tour

She really picked a good crop of ringers tho

Wish I could see them tomorrow, but terrible timing in that the very great Mint Field are playing separately. Next time!

Still a great show and I'm absolutely happy about any success she has. I hope, though, that she'll not abandon the 'singing into my hairbrush to doo-wop loops' vibe (which may be an unfair way to characterize U.S. Girls). I own all the records and support all she does.

Still playing this lots. Saw the middle show in Brooklyn a few weeks back. A little bummed that I dance to it more in my apartment than I did there but hey, spilt milk.

how was the show? it was sold out before I could get tickets

I thought it was great. They were tight, musically, and had an endearing stage presence/character. They did an extended jam on "time" which was awesome.

Their KEXP performance is so good, they sound amazing live... had no idea there were so many people in the band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGN3XBy_1m8

This album just rips. Especially Time which is a face melter if I’ve ever heard one. Rosebud definitely brings to mind st Etienne

imo Time drags the album down somewhat, it feels like a slightly dull plod

lol whut

i see it as a long form bookend of a great album

Her previous album ended with the face melter to end all face melters, but I just can't get with Time, sorry

Oh yeah woman’s work was a bomb !

https://open.spotify.com/track/78xKlqAi5F3syCVEyZoqvO?si=ygdSXVw3TdmvFp-BdOvsGA

Opening of Window Shades Kills me every time

New album already! Heavy Light out March 6th.

Oh snap IN
Just in time for my birthday

yay!

!!!!!!

First single sounds like she is doubling down on the slicked up sorta disco/ gospel sound of Poem - its good but I do miss a bit of the ole bleeding damaged white noise. This song also made me realise that I guess it has always been a big part of her sound to have the vocals sitting so high in the mix.

there's a tour too! got tickets for the LA show on 4/22.

new song: "4 American Dollars"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGQ1UAX0aYo

If the rest of this is as good as the first three songs then wow.

tracks 4-5 are some embarrassing spoken word into the Be My Baby beat so I think you can retract that wow

i don't like the spoken word interludes (but i never do) but i do like the be my baby noise bit

yep, bad album. sorry.

Incidental Boogie coming on the Spotify artist mix immediately after it ends, specifically to taunt me

"She used to be good! Woman's Work was your song of the year even!"

I don't know what she's become, but it's very on the nose, very irritating and not very good

IOU was alright I guess

Sir this is a sperm bank

Nah it's a pretty good album but the first three songs made me think we were in for a masterpiece but there's a drop off after that, even if I did enjoy her healthy disrespect for the Be My Baby beat.

Spoken word bits are dreadful, mind.

It's good.

I've been chanting the backing vocals in "Overtime" and "4 American Dollars" for the last week.

If the 1st 3 songs are the best ones then there's no need for me to listen to the rest of this album

Spoken word bits are dreadful, mind.

― Matt DC, Friday, March 6, 2020 7:01 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

could see this coming from a mile away after reading a profile on this record

yep, bad album. sorry.

was this after one listen? two? just curious.

lol this is NOT going to be another Titanic Rising

I really like this. The interludes don't add anything to the album, but they're not as terrible as I was expecting. I did lower my expectations after reading the mixed reactions on here and on RYM, but I enjoyed it straight away. After a couple more listens it feels like a worthy follow-up to In A Poem Unlimited.

I really like the album too. I don't mind the spoken word bits, but the re-recordings of old songs feel kind of pointless. I'd rather hear more new songs on a album than something you'd hear in a live setting.

I don't mind the spoken word bits either, and since I haven't heard anything pre-IAPU, all the tracks are new to me — so yep, good album, not sorry.

lol I like this album a great deal, almost as much as the last one.

I listened through a few times, I like it. So far it feels a notch below the last one, songwise. That one just had so many hooks, this one is a little more groove-driven. Which is fine. She's interesting. It's been fun to see her keep evolving.

lol I like this album a great deal, almost as much as the last one.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Same here!

I don't mind the faster, fuller "Red Ford Radio" on here, but I love the original of that song to pieces. It's more of a spooky dirge.

the spoken word bits are awful but this is why god invented the skip button and playlisting

I was dying for just one person on the fourth track to say "you suck and I hate you"

Y Se Mueve is groovy as hell. Saw them last month in NYC and that was a highlight. Super tight band w/ three backing vocalists.

I have come in praise of the Alex Frankel remix of "Overtime", contributing to this lovely summer of disco

New album out today. Kind of seems like she's fallen off of everyone's radar? Apparently the first single from this album came out back in July and I had no idea.

The opener sounds like....Toto.

She had definitely fallen off my radar; this is the first I had heard of the new album.

I saw her live in NYC in February 2020, the last show I saw pre-quarantine. So now I unfortunately associate her (and Heavy Light in particular) with that early-COVID sense of pre-apocalyptic anxiety. I thought the critical backlash to that album was pretty harsh, so I've got high hopes for this one. Only two tracks in right now--Toto OTM re: opener.

Also re: opener, from this track-by-track interview https://www.stereogum.com/2214480/us-girls-bless-this-mess-track-by-track/interviews/footnotes-interview/:

You said that this song is about the act of creation? Tell me why this one kicks off the album.

MEG REMY: Because of how it sounds, how it starts. It hits. As they say, “It slaps.” An instant “Oh, shit.” Thematically, the song’s really all over the place. I was initially writing it in my mind as a duet. I really wanted to do a duet with Julian Casablancas, which obviously didn’t happen. Then there was a brief moment where it was going to maybe be a duet with Donald Fagen. That didn’t happen either — someone got my hopes very up.

Get Don for the remix!!

If Holy Ghost and Thundercat can get Michael Mcdonald surely so can she

Feel like Heavy Light showcased most of their worst impulses (or at least the things I enjoyed least about their previous work)... to the extent that it made me question my love for Half Free and In a Poem (which already had some ill-advised clunkers to go with the VERY high highs).

Should I listen to this?

early indications appear to be that this has a couple of bangers and a bunch more half-baked stuff, will listen (no matter how cringe she gets, Half Free will always be a masterpiece)

I liked “Pump” the best on first listen.

listening now. at least so far i can say it has a better track than anything on heavy light (the second). however it also has a worse track than anything on it (the third). nice to give yourself an out by calling it a mess in the title lol

yeah this isn't very good

It's about as uneven as Heavy Light was for me. The playlist I just made with the best tracks from both is a pretty decent album though!

https://i.imgur.com/jAAMOW3.jpg