I have such a strange fascination with the British. Maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019ve grown up in Los Angeles, but I want nothing more than to go to Oxford (even though my family so considerately laughs at me whenever I bring up the idea) and to stalk the remaining members of the Beatles through London. <\/p>\n
But since I can hardly deal with temperatures going below fifty here in California, I may not be such an ideal transport. So let\u2019s head to Australia instead, which, on the music end of things, has turned out some exports interesting enough to make me put down Keane and Arctic Monkeys and Muse for a second to give something new a listen. <\/p>\n
The Beautiful Girls (made up of frontman Mat McHugh, drummer Mitch Connelly, bassist Clay McDonald and Felipe on harmonica) and their second US release, Water<\/em>, draw freqent comparisons to tour mates Ben Harper and Jack Johnson (the band is now on its sixth stateside tour). Just listen to the swingy acoustic guitar and smooth vocals on the album\u2019s opener, \u201cPeriscopes,\u201d which would fit right alongside something like \u201cSitting, Waiting, Wishing\u201d from Johnson\u2019s In Between Dreams<\/em>.<\/p>\n Next up is \u201cMorning Sun,\u201d which combines a steadily grooving bassline and McHugh\u2019s clear, slick vocals; the real strength of the song is in its lengthy guitar break, which gains power as it unfolds from a few single notes plucked in repetition to an up-tempo combo of pounding drums and electric soloing. Building upon a similar rhythm is \u201cClear Day,\u201d which shines with lyrics like \u201cAnd when the burning sun, it falls in my eyes, is when I come upon another sunrise \/ Well, I will walk alone \u2018cause I\u2019m not scared to die \/ in a clearer day in the sunshin.\u201d McHugh\u2019s vocals consistently remind me not of the aforementioned Jack Johnson but of another favorite of mine, Golden; despite the constantly shifting dynamics in their material, both bands\u2019 frontmen manage to retain the signature warmth that helps make each song so listenable. <\/p>\n On its fourth track, Water<\/em> switches things up with the infectiously upbeat \u201cGoodtimes;\u201d after a deceptively lazily paced intro, it dives straight into rapidly delivered lyrics and quick bursts of guitars. It\u2019s a fun two-minute diversion, and it\u2019s perfectly placed after the contemplative \u201cClear Day\u201d and before the album\u2019s bluesy title track. <\/p>\n Also worth a mention is the album\u2019s sole instrumental interlude, \u201cFirst Sign of Trouble;\u201d featuring maracas and graceful, almost hypnotic layers of guitar, it\u2019s easily one of the most captivating tracks on Water<\/em> \u2013 that is, before they throw in a last punch of harmonica-tinged reggae to round things out on \u201cWeight Of The World,\u201d a song that sounds just as convincing as any of the earlier, more standard rock material which is surely another testament to their chameleon tendencies.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no wonder these guys are a smash-hit in numerous countries. They\u2019re entertaining without sacrificing any artistry to be so \u2013 and few bands since Aerosmith can throw in a harmonica and have it flow so easily. If this is what Australia is, then sign me out of Oxford and into the land down under.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":28554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7844],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-40021","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-beautiful-girls","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40021"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40021"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}