...according to our Dave on Thu 17 Mar, 2011.
The new album from The Babies is ace. It's a Vivian Girls/ Woods offshoot and they are kicking up a right storm on both sides of the pond. I like them only slightly more than real babies. I mean real babies are cute and playful and stuff but they wont come at you with a sweet collection of lo-fi grungey rock. They might burble and be sick on you. (The babies..not The Babies) This album is half an hour of joyous hooks and sweet melodies. Some of this record is so damn catchy. I found mi sen humming various tunes all day. It's a record that is well produced.. I mean you can hear all the instruments in their various forms... it's not over produced. It reminds me of Sebadoh or summat... But without the miserable shuffling. All the tunes have some really great moments. My favourite song at the moment is the brilliant "Meet Me In The City" which is joyous and so uplifting it might be dangerous to your health. I reckon fans of cool summery pop will go mad for this record and as Barry Norman used to say "Why Not.."
In 2008, Kevin Morby moved into Cassie Ramone s small apartment in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, for a few months. Morby, who plays bass in Woods, and Ramone, who sings and plays guitar in Vivian Girls, wanted to start a band. They both missed the sweaty loft shows they used to play before their bands moved on to larger venues and longer tours. Justin Sullivan, who had played with Ramone in Bossy, began practicing with them on drums, and The Babies debuted as a three-piece in March 2009 at Dead Herring, their friends loft in Brooklyn. They played a few times before asking Nathan Stark, formerly of Bent Outta Shape, to join on bass, and the full lineup s first shows were that summer. The Babies wrote music and played shows in fits and spurts, whenever they all happened to be in town for a week. They recorded their self-titled debut album with Jarvis Taveniere at Rear House Studios, which doubles as Morby s home; his vocals were done in his own bedroom. (Taveniere, Morby s bandmate in Woods, has also recorded Real Estate, Vivian Girls and Woods.) The debut follows 7-inch singles on Make a Mess and Wild World. The Babies songs are roughed-up jewels cut from the same cloth as Hazlewood and Sinatra, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Pisces and Linda Bruner, and other dream marriages. The band will tour the West Coast again in January, to where they re temporarily relocating for the winter to write their second record before going to Europe in the spring of 2011.Touring in March!
Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!