Holding Hands with Jamie

Following several well-received singles and EPs on the obscure Any Other City label, abrasive Dublin quartet Girl Band moved to Rough Trade for the release of their full-length debut Holding Hands with Jamie, but their music has by no means become more accessible. If anything, they sound harsher than ever. Alan Duggan's steely guitars pierce and singe, heading straight for where it hurts most and attacking, and causing an instant blackout by covering everything in sheets of noise. Dara Kiely's scowling, sour vocals seem to be shouted at least three feet away from the microphone at any given time, and are prone to aggressive, off-key wailing. The album rarely lets up from its sense of menacing paranoia; "In Plastic" ends up standing out simply because of its more relaxed tempo and controlled waves of swarming guitar. As with earlier releases, the album has a couple songs that stretch out to seven or eight minutes, allowing the band to fully explore demented, off-balance grooves that hammer the listener into submission.