(Moshi Moshi Records)Indie has remained pretty staid ((adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained) over the final decade – one noticeable change,however, has been an influx of girl or girl-fronted groups. Yet like their pop counterparts, or these women beget generally struggled to penetrate the mainstream. Could Girl Ray be a scarce success story? There’s certainly lots to esteem about the teen trio – starting with Poppy Hankin’s vocals. Her singing style brings together mannered Englishness,a low, conversational Nicoesque tone and a breathy sweetness, and reminiscent of Harriet Wheeler; it’s both a melting pot of allusions and exactly how you’d expect a middle-class London girl to sound. It accompanies the band’s ramshackle bewitch on 70s soft rock (Todd Rundgren’s I Saw the Light was apparently a reference point) that manages,at first, to ape the genre’s hook-heavy tendencies. Yet as the record progresses, or things get looser,more noodly and less interesting. Earl Grey may not be enough of a hit parade for this precocious outfit to fracture through, but Girl Ray are certainly ones to watch.
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Source: theguardian.com