The Girls
Yes No Yes No Yes No
Anyone over the age of 35 recalls MTV’s early days when artists like Blondie and The Vapors and Gary Numan mugged awkwardly on their television screens. The skinny ties, the multilevel synthesizers, the campy production value—we were being fed our first serving of musical eye candy as punk gave way to new wave. The five guys who make up Seattle’s The Girls wisely snag only the good parts from that period—pop hooks, hyperactive drums, spiky guitars, subtle synths—and fold them into 10 electro-punk anthems that clock in at a tidy 25 minutes. On their second LP, Yes No Yes No Yes No, The Girls aren’t exactly reinventing the keytar, but they don’t resort to kitsch, either. Sure, vocalist Shannon Brown occasionally sings in a faux British accent, but it adds to the charm of burners like “Who Are the Forgetters” and “A Tonal Decent.” Former Catheters guitarist Derek Mason trades in his axe for the keys here, adding just the right amount of synthesized squeal. Like the album itself, any more would be too much.
