GIRLS NAMES – Arms around a Vision
Written by: Nicholas Bramanti
Score: 6/10
Girls Names are a band from Northern Ireland and ‘Arms Around a Vision’ is their third full-length album since 2011. They have a widely varying sound, going from avant-garde to noisy beach rock and layer this on top of the post-punk sound they etched out for themselves in their second record, ‘The New Life’. This album is at times frantic and others simplistic and hazy, which seems to fit the thematic elements of the album wonderfully. It focuses around the band’s anger and disappointment with what’s happening around them. This is a tough concept to get into, and makes the album something you have to work your way into, but once getting past the near abrasive bark of singer Cathan Cally, it works smoothly to create a complex, intricate whole.
Throughout, when Girls Names is able to stretch the song out and let ideas fully develop they are at their best. Some of the shorter tracks feel like they are unexplored and missing the creativity and inventiveness we see when they reach towards the five and six minute tracks. Tracks like (Obsession), Dysmorphia, and (Convalescence) felt like filler for the album and interrupted the strong hypnotic flow that had been built up throughout the album. Overall though, a strong post-punk release with a flair for the noisy and weird.
Fave Tracks: 1, 10, 6, 11
FCC: Clean
RIYL: Viet Cong, Joy Division, Wire
