Words: Kyle Smith
I don’t know about you guys, but when I find myself talking to someone else and trying to describe a band who mashes up seemingly incongruous sonic influences to form their sounds, I get the distinct feeling that I’m giving the elevator pitch for an especially ridiculous sit-com. “They’re like if a metalcore band did covers of Kraftwerk songs… They’re like if Hendrix played the ukulele and was backed by an 80s drum machine…. They’re like if the singers from Aqua made hip-hop songs with an accordion and for some reason a hologram of David Bowie as the Goblin King from Labyrinth was there…” (OK if they made a behind-the-music type sit-com of that last hypothetical band, I would binge-watch the crap out of it, it would be amazing).
When I encounter a band that bases their sound on mashing these things together it either clicks and sound really awesome, it’s just kind of sits there and sounds like they’re trying way too hard to be creative. Church Girls is definitely the former, bringing in seemingly incongruous pieces to build a sound distinctly their own. It works magnificently, and their debut LP release, Hidalgo, demonstrates this beautifully.
That being said, I’m still left with the issue of trying to describe their sound without it sounding like a ridiculous sit-com. When I attempt a description, I keep coming back to the individual pieces that form the sound: bluesy/Americana guitar lead lines, a psychedelic wall of sound from rhythm guitars and synth textures, singer-songwriter type alto vocals, a rhythm section playing warm R&B-inspired soulful indie grooves. You hear all of these pieces next to each other and you scrunch your eyebrows trying to figure out how these things work together because some of them shouldn’t in theory. But in practice, they work wonderfully together, there is a common and somewhat ineffable sonic thread running through them that pull them together making what I can best describe as a less aggressive Janis Joplin sound – like if she followed the advice of her doctor and drank/smoked/screamed less and then proceeded to make friends with the Neo-Psychedelics in 2017.
Part of what makes this mish-mosh of sonic pieces work together is that Church Girls let each of the voices shine for particular tracks while supporting that voice in the spotlight with the other members. That’s simply good musicianship and good songwriting in practice. They actually seem to structure the album around that. First introducing the individual voices with a turn in the spotlight, and then bringing them all together to form a unique but beautiful combination for the back half of the album.
The album begins by featuring the wall of sound textures overlaid with the chill alto vocals of lead singer Mariel Beaumont on the first two tracks “Better Off” and “Glass.” Then it’s the rhythm section’s chance to shine on the next tracks, “Breaking Bones” and “Deserve,” with tight grooves driving these two songs. Then it’s onto melodic guitar lead lines driving “Holding On” followed by vocally driven “Rather Forget.”
From there the pieces seem to all come together on the seventh track “Thoughts Fell.” No longer is one instrument or section driving the track, but all of the pieces are speaking equally and freely. It’s actually a clever way of introducing your sound to the listener, and makes for more of a sonic journey throughout the album – almost like a conversation with the band, introducing seemingly disparate concepts (in this case, sonic concepts) and then tying it all together, inviting listeners to go back over earlier tracks looking for hints of how this will come together. It reminds me of the experience of listening to live recordings of good jazz combos. Everyone gets their turn to speak individually and then the group wraps it together in a way that allows everyone’s unique voice to be heard while creating something bigger than the sum of the individual parts. And the listener gets the experience of sitting in on the conversation.
After “Thoughts Fell” comes what I think is the hidden gem on the album, “Mirror in Montreal.” This is a short instrumental jam that turns into a psychedelic freak out halfway through, and really points to some of Church Girl’s sonic inspiration. I have to imagine it’s a fun one to experience live. The next two tracks “Pontificators” and “Regression” which are groovy tracks that also allow each instrument room speak similar to “Thoughts Fell.” The album finishes with “Three,” a short, chill epilogue that starts out with reverb heavy vocals and piano. The band joins in halfway through to wrap it all together and bring home the sonic ideas presented on the album.
Overall, Hidalgo is a solid debut LP. The band displays good instincts on musicianship as a band while still being sonically creative. What the listener gets is a chill indie rock album that pulls together bluesy Americana with Neo-Psychedelia in a beautiful manner. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from Church Girls.
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