New album review: Allo Darlin’
October 6, 2010 Leave a Comment
Sigh. This record is so lovely. I liked the music immediately, but it took paying close attention to the lyrics to understand what made it better than any other twee indiepop album. So, now I am in love — with this record, but the record makes me want to be in love with an actual person. And c’mon, they sing the chorus of Weezer’s “El Scorcho” in one song (video below), and actually pull it off. Favorite songs are “Silver Dollars” and “Kiss Your Lips,” but really it’s all wonderful.
My eMusic review of Allo Darlin’s self-titled LP:
The self-titled debut from London-based quartet Allo Darlin’ is about falling in love — on dancefloors and at parties, on Ferris wheels and in the kitchen — and the fluttering, anxious feeling of wondering of where you’ll end up, or who you’ll end up with, after the bar closes. There are mentions of Polaroid pictures, Woody Allen films and favorite Weezer songs, soundtracked by jangly pop hooks that owe as much to the Cure as to Cyndi Lauper. The Weezer number in question is Pinkerton‘s “El Scorcho” — which in itself name-drops Public Enemy and Green Day — and Allo Darlin’ manage to not only mention it in “Kiss Your Lips,” but also weave its chorus perfectly into the song, sing-shouting, “I’m a lot like you so please, hello, I’m here, I’m waiting/ I think I’d be good for you and you could be good for me.”
Fronted by Elizabeth Morris, who also plays in Tender Trap, Allo Darlin’ make clean-cut indie pop that’s heavy on tambourines, shakers, ukulele, and surf-pop guitar and bass licks. It’s unabashedly twee — “Heartbeat Chilli” is backed by Morris’s ukulele as she sings wistfully about spaghetti with heartbeats in the recipe, and “The Polaroid Song” has flute trills amid lines about stocking up on the instant film before it expires — but it’s balanced with Morris’s disarming earnestness and impressively quick wit. After a few spins, it’ll be hard not to cling on to her every word.
If you need more convincing, some of my favorite lyrics + a video are after the jump.
“Though you say we’re just friends and this love is purely platonic I’m hopin’ that you’ll forget after this round of gin and tonic”
“In a fair ground in the middle of Paris/ You tried to prove to me your manliness by winning me a teddy bear”
“I was in the kitchen on my own makin’ chili/ You came in with an onion and got dicin’/ It seems silly that this chili has two heartbeats in the recipe/ So come over, give your heart to me”
“You’ve been on your own as long as I recall/ If loneliness was art, I could hang you from the wall”
“Everybody I know wants to be your friend, but I just wanna hold you when the music ends/ That’s all, all I ask/ Is that too crass?”
“You make me feel like apologizing for being like this/ do I have to say I’m sorry for my happiness?”
“And when you call me on the telephone my fingers will twist through the cord and I’ll slide my feet up and down the wall, but I know that I’m stronger than you are”
Video of “Kiss Your Lips”:
