Hatcham Social - About Girls
Hatcham Social's second album About Girls is upon us, after a three-year gap since their last release, the London quartet has returned with a collection of Brit-rock tracks offering us tales regarding women that have fluttered in and out of their lives.
The album kicks off with NY Girl, which clearly demonstrates their raw, unrefined Brit-pop sound. The circling riffs and rumbling bass along with the infectious chorus, is a strong opener for the long-awaited album, and boldly exemplifies the band's personality. Indie-pop numbers Like An Animal and Shut Your Mouth further enlighten us about the feelings and confusion of falling in love, providing us with plenty of foot-tapping melodies as they do so.
Nicola Tells Me and Lois Lane carry a more soothing soul-rock sound, mixing a softer sound into the raw rock 'n' roll that is portrayed in many of the other songs on About Girls. The indie-fuelled choruses radiate masses of energy and are simply great fun to listen to.
On the other hand, by the time the middle of the album arrived, I must admit that I was mildly bored. I was expecting each song to unravel a unique tale, but instead I was met with lacklustre lyrics after the first few tracks. Little Savage and Invention of Air seemed to mingle together in a foggy blur, and it was hard to see what would come out on the other side. Dance With Me, however, thankfully picks the album back up with its chiming chorus, and Would You similarly injects some more character into the album with its cheeky hint of pop.
The beauty of About Girls is that it quite plainly shows that this band is British through and through, and although there are some definite high points that will be sure to blow your socks off, several of the songs are admittedly quite dull.