Brazilian Girls occupies a strange area in the pop spectrum. It seems as if they are unsure what they are shooting for in the grand scheme of their career. This is not to say that they are unfocused in their sound, which is a mish mash of French pop, hip hop beats, rock, and whatever else comes their way. In fact this aspect of the band seems almost too calculated at times. Also, such flagrant strides for eclecticism to mask actual songwriting and ideas seems a bit... 1990's. Still, they do what they do pretty well, and when the songs match up to the production, it's still middle ground music, but high middle ground. Are they shooting for the charts or just trying to stay artistically viable? Can't tell. This album basically nails that high middle ground and stays there. Far better than their previous album "Talk to La Bomb" which I found almost annoying, this one has moments that are genuinely gorgeous/moving/exciting. "Nouveau American" reminds one of Ms. John Soda at their best, and "L'interprete" is gorgeous because they don't throw all their tricks in the basket, opting for a gentle acoustic song that reminds me of a Vashti Bunyan song if sung by Francoise Hardy. Pretty stuff. And the album carries on like that. It finds the band becoming more sure of their place in the world, even if that place is some strange place between things, and confidently waggling their music in it. I like it quite a bit when it's "on", but I don't know if I'll find it playing that much in the iPod. I recommend it to friends who aren't into the stuff I say I like the most. You know who you are.
Grade: B-
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment