Girls - Father Son Holy Ghost

I didn't believe the hype on this lot's debut album. In fact I fucking hated it. How will they fare on the slightly less hyped follow up? Well, opener 'Honey Bunny' is a hilarious T-Rex rip off complete with Sweet style backing vocals. At least it's funny. By just looking at the title and listening to the first few bars you know that 'Alex' is an Alex Chilton tribute song. These guys are nothing if not unsubtle. It's a decent tune though, certainly recalling the lazy jangle and strum of 'Radio City' era Big Star.  By track three they have proven that they can rip off the 'big three' this time replicating note for note Ocean Colour Scene. Maybe they were aiming at Led Zeppelin and missed. By 'Saying I Love You' they are back on a Big Star tip. They are the band with no identity, they sound like a modern day equivalent of those supermarket aimed compilation tapes from the 1970s that re-created the hits of the day. That said, once they do settle down to one style about halfway through they kind of nail the whole weepy '70s ballad as once blubbered out through the likes of The Raspberries, Wings, 10CC and particularly Badfinger (the delightfully titled 'Vomit' is the latter's 'Without You' note for note). It would be exaggerating to say I 'like' this record. I kind of admire it in a strange kind of way. It may appeal to fans of Denim. It certainly takes balls to attempt to sound like a bad version of so many people on the same album.