Glorious fuzz

Image: Mokona73

Private Amber - Rosemary Krust

Nico's smoky slur & drawl dances an uneasy lap with an opiated guitar strum. Instead of sun-baked, this field of poppies is traced with frost. Brittle petals crumble in a pinch. The cold wants to see you shake, she sings. And you do.

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Tell the World - Vivian Girls
I never got the whole Pipettes thing. They are (were? are they gone yet?) charmless singers and I confess their post-post feminist irony performance thing cleared the top of my head by a good couple feet. Vivian Girls not only charmingly reconstitute Spector-girl-group, they make a passionate plea for the relevance of C86 breeze and shoe-gaze dense. Oh, and for new wave and garage rock and poor--really, really poor--production values. "Tell the World" is thick as clotted cream with close harmonies, gingersnap beats and a glorious fuzz.

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