U.S. Girls

(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