Knickers

My Baby's Just A Baby 7" EP Elefant Records

Article written by Paul M

Back in the noughties The Loves were a welcome feature on the Cardiff and London toilet venue circuits for a while with their psych/bubblegum pop proudly stomping down the fine line between rubbish and genius. They were always highly entertaining and fun, particularly live, and it was a sad, if not unexpected, night indeed when they spat out their Bazooka Joe for the last time at a farewell gig on Valentines Day 2011. Well the good news is their wisecracking svengali-like frontman Simon has a new band and based on the four tracks here they could be even better. Simon's knack for a catchy melody remains but with Sarah's delicious vocals taking a prominent role, there's a definite smoothing of the edges, to reveal Knickers to be a more feminine outfit. 

Opener My Baby's Just a Baby (But I Love Him So) is the most Loves-like effort on offer with its cheesy take on sleazy garage but the other three are wonderful too. Are You Ready Girl? is an excellent but obscure Dave Davies (of the Kinks) number that is given a tender treatment with Sarah's delicate warble while A Thousand Ways is strident Belle and Sebastian-esq brass and percussion led pop. Meanwhile closer Darling is cheery 60s girlpop with handclaps and chimes. All in all, four reasons why you need to get the 7" out and into Knickers.

You can listen to the four tracks at the Elephant site here.

Links:
http://knickers.bandcamp.com/
http://elefant.com