Phonetics On And On

Chicago-area trio of young women now with their second album, released by Matador. Music is wistful and sweet, dense with hooks and three-part harmony; shaggy and rockin guitars and drums; elements of folk and twee and mopey and rockin and everything
RIYL: The Raincoats, Modern Lovers, Belle+Sebastian, Pavement, Talulah Gosh, really a soup of everything smart and cool —— FCC Clean!

1. (1:41) ****** Rollicking out the gates...galloping drums “where’d you go”; la la las and sweet harmonies; short but what a track
2. (3:49) ***** Twangy midtempo, sweet and sour; “woo-hoo”s abound... hypnotic outtro
3. (4:37) ***** Languid and sleepy, “every car that passes by drives to you..." Somber and sober and dreamy
4. (3:18) ******* Dreamy alt-country fiddling, transitions to uptempo deadpan hootenanny harmony “shadadadada”; becomes deranged and ecstatic and lovely
5. (3:29) ****** Killer new wave-style bass; “...out your window...”; uptempo sing-songy but cool
6. (4:37) ***** Plaintive and spare, epistolary; “dot dot dot dot..."; slow and simmering and wistful
7. (3:06) ***** Determined rhythm into chant “switch over/switch off”; hypnotic and simple groove full of harmony
8. (4:03) **** Plunky intro, pipey vox translates into “woo hoo” relatively spacey groove
9. (2:53) ***** Flamenco-toned guitars with mysterious rhythms and vibes, vox alluring and daydreamy in parts; repetitive and hypnotic
10. (3:42) ****** Clockwork deliberative drumming; harmony like polished metal “and they say ‘da da da da ta da...'"; cool channel separation and round-like structure; hauntingly dense and beautiful; shaggy ending and quick fade-out
11. (2:31) ****** Rollicking and sweet harmony, catchy and twee and so sweet and cool