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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Trip... and they mean it, September 22, 2004
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."
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
W(est) I(ndian) G(irl)..., October 7, 2004
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!!!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Perry Farrel vs. Lush, April 25, 2005
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....
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