Albums

Allo Darlin - Allo Darlin

Chris Stanley 00/00/0000

Rating: 4/5

Pop music is forever moving backwards, forwards and generally doing the Hokey Cokey and on a step to the right you have got modern giants like Lady Ga Ga and step to the left for full throttle bands like the fuzz drenched Pains of Being at Heart which end up giving you shape much like Picasso's pets especially considering The Saturdays would have to feature in some corner of this bizarre shape. Pop music is not dead more like it has taken a gap year in order to find itself to forget the unpleasantness and while we wait for it to return with various trinkets and vile booze Allo Darlin' are here.

The band are based around two Australian members Elizabeth Morris and Bill Blotting who came to London to play and write music not as their name would suggest to sell various groceries to people with a crass southern accent or drive taxis. Their self titled debut album recorded underneath the Duke Of Uke shop with producers Simon Trought and Pipettes member Monster Bobby Allo Darlin' is a ray of shining hope in grim British summer times with ridiculous sports outcomes and a government coalition consisting of a party born without souls and one who have just sold theirs.

From the opener 'Dreaming' an image and sound of this band is immediate poppy, jangly and the character displayed in the combined vocal contributions of Morris and Monster Bobby conjure up pictures of young couples doing completely normal but life affirming things like going out dancing. Youth, summer and relationships form a heavy but by no means tiresome feel throughout the album and somewhere there is a shy jumper clad twee indie kid making a mixtape purely made up of Allo Darlin to give to the unattainable girl who dances to Comet Gain.

Despite being label mates with POBPAH they have more in common musically with the twee and sunny likes of Camera Obscura, Tilly & the Wall and Rilo Kiley. The mixture of country esque tremolo and slow popness sounds like it has packed up all its worthy belongings, wrapped them in a red handkerchief and jumped Rilo's 'More Adventurous' ship to take pride and place with Allo Darlin. Going with the country theme 'Heartbreak Chilli' features an apparent lyrical sample from walk the line combined with the original culinary lyrics shows a softer quieter side to a band who could be easily dismissed as being one dimensional.



Lyrical sampling continues with the glorious 'Kiss your Lips' with its choral lyrics expressing the bitter sweet aspect of a relationship but also its tenderness comes cross more then anything else. My smile Cheshire cats across my face when I hear Weezer's 'El Scorcho' sampled mid way through the song in the form of group cheers helping to conjure images of empty beer and whisky bottles littered around a basement recording studio. Their youthful attitude is heavily lavished in 'Silver Dollars' and the songs lyrics are appropriate not only for their monetary contents or the lack but more the connection of being young and indulging into fantasy whilst discovering love will make person during the summer feel nostalgic about being young.

For a debut a sense of what this band are about is brought to life by the atmosphere created in this enchanting, catchy, expressive and wonderful record. Buy three copies of this album, one to decorate with ribbons, sunshine and confectionary, one to endlessly listen to until its core snaps and one to replace the latter.

Released - out now

www.myspace.com/allodarlin
www.allodarlin.com