speed of dark

Girls In Hawaii may be the most misleading band name ever. First, there are no girls in this band. Second, look at those coats and hats. Nobody in Hawaii dresses like that. These fakers are Belgian! On the other hand, they look like they wish they were in Hawaii.

I first heard Girls In Hawaii when they were guests on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic while I was painting my house prior to moving. Host Nick Harcourt had seen them at South by Southwest the month before and invited them to Santa Monica for a live set. I had to stop what I was doing to listen to the radio, put down my paintbrush, and find a scrap of paper to write the band name before I forgot it.

There is something about intertwining acoustic guitar, minor chords, whispered vocals, layered harmonies, and English in a foreign accent that is irresistable to me. Start with Belle and Sebastian and go from there. If I had heard GIH last year, they would have made my Favorites of 2005 list for sure.

Some tracks on their debut album, From Here to There, are a little too mild to be interesting. "The Ship in the Sea" and "The Fog" fall into that category. Lyrics are sometimes muffled and suffer a little from lack of skill with English. But the engaging melodies are right on target, and when the Girls punch things up, as in "Flavor" and "Short Song For a Short Mind," they pull you right in. There are more good songs than weak ones, which makes the album worth having. The new B-side release, "Fireworks," is bright and mellow at the same time and makes you wish for more like it. This album was first released in 2004, so I hope the Girls will have a new one sometime next year.

Bees and Butterflies (Down)
Organeum
Found In the Ground
Fireworks

See also "Casper" on my Halloween Mix post.

Girls in Hawaii Website
Visit GIH MySpace page
Buy at Amazon and also on iTunes