Customer Reviews

West Indian Girl

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Give the Flaming Lips a sunny California sound, and pump them full of tranquilizers. That pretty much describes West Indian Girl's self-titled debut, a swirling mix of psychedelica and acoustic pop. In short, it sounds like a summer night without clouds.

Not surprisingly, "West Indian Girl" is a particular type of LSD that supposedly gave you "tribal" hallucinations, whatever those are. You can hear the psychedelic sounds in the opener, the aptly named "Trip," a mix of the acoustic and electronic. Other songs like "What Are You Afraid Of?" make you think of a beach at sunset, with the gently undulating melody, while "Hollywood" is a percussion/trip-hop ode to... well, Hollywood.

The acoustic/electronic sound continues through the album, to the point where they're hard to unmingle -- sometimes you can pick out the piano, drums and guitar, but often you can't. I tried to untwist the layers of the ethereal "Dream," and only succeeded in spacing out. Other songs like the fast-throbbing "Vision" or the shimmering, hymnlike "Leave Tonight" are almost like drugs in themselves -- they practically lift you off the ground.

West Indian Girl definitely have an upbeat sound, even in the downbeat songs. Even "Hollywood" has that innocent, wide-eyed sound -- in this song, it's not a multibillion movie industry, but a magical city. The swirling, dreamy sound only accentuates the feeling that you've entered a parallel world, where things are prettier and a little kiner.

Murmuring male singing is in of the songs. The exception is "Leave Tonight," which is full of distant, childlike vocals singing "Time is wandering fast." It's either really pretty or really creepy. The songwriting isn't exactly Shakespeare, but its simple sentiments are appealing. "On an island off the southern sea/Overlooking a memory you once had/There's a light in a northern sky/And a picture of you that never dies." Aww.

With their polished debut, West Indian Girl has created the perfect album to play on a summer night as the stars come out. "It's summertime, let's trip tonight."

This is indeed a great album, and refreshingly left field (in a musical sense) for 2004. The other reviews here used all the correct adjectives to describe this record, so I won't bother rehashing. At any rate all the tracks here are first-rate.

What's strange is that nowhere in West Indian Girl's bio is there mention of the fact that these 2 guys were one half of the band WIG, who released 2 incredible, genre-busting records on Island in the 1990's. "Deliverance" in 1994 and "Wireland" in 1997. Back then, they were known as Robert Schurgin (now James) and Fran Falls (now Ten). Is there some legality that prevents James and Ten from mentioning their roots in their old band? Maybe they're ashamed of their past?

Anyway I guess that's not relevant here. West Indian Girl is a fantastic, gorgeous album, and I'm anxious to hear more from Robert and Frances. Highly recommended!!!

This is a pretty good album actually. Good to just put on and have playing in the background. Good Summer music.
But it totally sounds like it would've been released 10 or 15 years ago. It makes me think of Perry Farrel singing for that band Lush with a little bit of Sigur Ros thrown in the background here and there....

There was a time when Stone Roses and Primal Scream were seen as the coolest bands. They were stoned and sexy. They inspired the shoegazer movement. West Indian Girl are a duo that named themselves after a strain of LSD. They are like One Dove. But this album is totally modern. They are akin to some LA bands of today that are spiking their drinks with something: like The Shore and Run Run Run. When I heard this record I thought they were an English band like The Delays. Apparently the guys in West Indian Girl were inspired by rave culture. They actually sound like a band from 1989 place in now. As if the whole grunge, neo-punk, and alternative generation never happened. They make music that sonically advanced and that is introspective. Their music re-imagines a space where music conjures up imagination and mystery.

West Indian Girl is incredible... somehow they've captured a bit of retro Cure, the whimsy of Cocteau Twins and the ethereal club sounds of The Shore & Joseph Arthur. This CD makes me very happy - happy that I can listen to a CD from start to finish and feel great all the way through. Thanks guys!

It proves tempting to regard the first song of a first album as a sort of manifesto, charting the musical and lyrical course of a band. West Indian Girl do just this on the initial track of their eponymous debut. Combining organic tones and synthetic trills with soaring melodies and acid-inspired lyrics, they create a compelling post-psychedelic fusion which transcends the music to capture the very essence of L.A. life.

The opening song, aptly titled "Trip," presents a mosaic of drug references and word pictures, conjuring images of languorous days and endless nights. "Alone on a hill in the summertime/You can dial your mind/And listen to thoughts made young and pure," it begins, eventually admonishing, "Slow down/You'll be all right/It's summertime/Let's trip tonight." At another point, the song refers to the frustration of "waiting for the world to kiss the sky." You can only partially hold this predilection for hallucinogens against the band. In a city mired in smog and traffic but fringed by beaches and mountains, you can't entirely blame them for wanting to tune in, turn on, and drop out. Yet even in the frantic mainland city of Los Angeles, a curious island time prevails. In this laissez-faire attitude West Indian Girl truly find their groove.

Indeed, they concern themselves far less with escaping reality than with finding contentment within it. "Time is wandering fast," they sing in "Leave Tonight," and they seek to lyrically preserve its transcendent moments. The album abounds in references to special times and places: "All alone, summer night" ("Hollywood"), "16 hours away/A bit too far from Monterey" ("Miles From Monterey"), "On an island off the Southern Sea/Overlooking a memory" ("Northern Sky"). Literality and metaphor blur, leaving the listener to distinguish autobiography from archetype. But the fundamental truth remains, because, however expressed, the longings of the human heart represent a universal language.

The majestic arrangements lends power to even the simplest lyrics: the pronouncement that "love never dies" ("Green") sounds fresh and inspiring, and the declaration, "It's okay/It's all right" ("Hollywood") comes off as genuinely reassuring. The juxtaposition of Robert James' fragile tenor with Mariqueen Maandig's delicate soprano defines the album, infusing such tracks as "Dream," "Northern Sky," and "Still Lost" with a celestial quality. On the ethereal "Leave Tonight," Maandig delivers a captivating performance all her own. West Indian Girl's strength lies not so much in their originality, but in their sublime manipulation of venerable motifs. The album retains a remarkable consistency of tone without ever sounding monotonous. "Hollywood" stands out as the most original track, pulsing and throbbing in the least artificial of ways, almost suggesting a collaboration between Blind Melon and Depeche Mode.

"Lay Down", the moving final track, consummates the album by bringing it full circle lyrically. James once again turns to the language of drugs, but with a twist. "I'm so high I can't sleep/I'm so high I can't speak/I'm so high," he sings, "with you." Clichéd but true, the intoxication of love eclipses any synthetic high. West Indian Girl seek to love and be loved, to find satisfaction in connectedness and not achievement. It sounds as if Manifest Destiny halted its march at the Pacific coast, leaving Angelenos with nothing to follow but their hearts. It's not the American Dream, it's the Californian Dream; and California isn't just a state, it's a state of mind.

i can't remember where i first heard of this band, but i am glad i did.. so i checked the band's site out,and saw they were on AstralWerks..( with AIR.. nice!) much later, i bought the cd, and was not disappointed ( well. mainly because i had already heard most of the songs by then, but that's a moot point )

stand out tracks, for me:


2.what are you afraid of?.... seems to be one of their better known tracks.. 8/10
3.Hollywood... 9/10
4.miles from monterrey.. intoxicating melody and arrangement. well produced, and i love the hook 10/10
5.dream. another great track 9/10


the others range between 'ho-hum' and 'interesting'
.. which in itself is not bad.. probably 3.5 stars is a better rating for the cd. but they won't allow that ( and it's much better than '3 stars', in my opinion)


to be quite honest, i was surprised at HOW much i liked the disc, and on first play to a lot of my friends ( with diverse musical taste), they were asking , 'who's that?'


pick it up, give it a spin..

Here's an album not to be missed by any fans of Polyphonic Spree and Flaming Lips. West Indian Girl is a promising debut full of dreamy melodies that evoke the lazy, breezy, psychedelic SoCal memories of days long gone by (Los Angeles circa 1970 in a parallel universe perhaps). Standout cuts are "What Are You Afraid Of", "Hollywood", "Northern Sky" and "Still Lost".

WOW!....If you like Jane's Addiction or any sort to trippy psychedelic sunshine rock....check it out...these guys are seriously talented!

I didn't know what I was in for when I went to see West Indian Girl live earlier this week. All I can say is that this band knocked me over. The album is very good, but this band has something live that is even better. They play with power. They come at you with a wall of sound, like a big blue wave. They were captivating. I want to hear more from these guys.