Although their first full-length album Concepts is a bit of an enigma on the first listen, mainly because deciphering the vocals is nearly impossible, Little Girls achieve a welcoming touch of goth sensibility without layers of synth or the quoting of Poe. Imagine the Goth kids from South Park hanging out on a random beach as the sun sets on an overcast day, smoking cigarettes and slowly bobbing their heads in a cutesy cryptic manner. Here you would find Concepts streaming out the jam box laden with Siouxsie and the Banshees stickers.
Along most of Concepts Little Girls flirt with a sound reminiscent of a minimalist post-rock gothy surf blend of Wavves, Placebo (think Sleeping With Ghosts‘ opening track “Bullet Proof Cupid), shades of Dick Dale’s surf rock influence and a slower, lo-fi Interpol. “Seeing” and “Tambourine” are tracks that seem to capture Concepts’ sense of grim isolation. The tremolo heavy guitars and relentless hi-hat sixteenth notes conjure a Joy Division-y sense of demur. Ironically, this sense of what can begrudgingly be labeled as cool comes with the disclosure of dark, frustrated loneliness. Little Girls go a bit further and interject the notion with four or five pinches of…fun. “Last Call” is a haunting gothy head-bobber that expands the notion of straight-out gloom coming together with beach punk deserving of repeated listens.
Overall, at the bottom of their hearts, the most melancholic of Goth kids want to dance too. They just prefer a speed that won’t interfere with the pace of their cigarette patterns. Rejoice dance hungry enthusiasts of black apparel, Little Girls have their well-crafted antidote spread all throughout Concepts. Sigh, Dance, Puff, Repeat.
by: Bene Garcia
