In a bit more than a year, a lot of things have changed in the Spanish forest. The band Deers had to become Hinds, because of the threat of a legal action from a band with a similar name, and the herd has been extended from 2 members to 4. What was sounding like a joke, or at least like an exercise without any seriousness, has turned into “Leave Me Alone”, the debut album from one of the most exciting garage band of these last months: Hinds. It is now out via Lucky Number/Mom & Pop.
It is clear that the hype has done much to bring forward the music of these wild creatures out of the woods. The quartet doesn’t arrive with anything new and, even worse, they take the risk to reheat a genre that is already burnt. Too many bands are recording indie tracks in their garage in order to meet their idols and, as a consequence, the scene is now totally full of artists that release the same poor songs. But what is really interesting here is that beyond the hype, Hinds’ debut album is a good surprise and a breath of fresh air in a stifling garageosphere. The sound of the album is a bit anarchic but the feeling is warm: this is the perfect item to enjoy a nice Indian summer or to travel to California without spending a dollar.
Imagine The Strokes who would have mixed up with the Spice Girls: the guitar riffs are infectious and bring to the cheeky pop a messy but determined spirit which is hard to escape. “Garden” is the perfect opener and as a lead single, it hooks you from the first listen. It reflects the oomph and the energy that makes this LP so special.
“Fat Calmed Kiddos” is maybe the best sample to understand what you can find in this 12-track debut effort and to appreciate what Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote are doing the best: singing at the same time about love with a serious dose of alcohol running into their veins. The track, just like the album, is a short roller coaster, a kind smack on the butt or a mischievous bite on the lips of your partner.
The lyrics are mainly talking about love, but not the eternal one. The girls are just having fun, looking for the booze and enjoying life. “Leave Me Alone” smells like the last kiss in the straw of a barn with the lover of a night, where the madrugada marks both the end and the beginning of a new romance. “Castigadas en el granero” is the point of view of a teenager who is not a girl anymore, but not yet a woman, a teenager who is growing and who is as tempted by stealing candies than by smoking weed.
In all of these whims, “Solar Gap” is a romantic instrumental break, a comforting hand caressing an after-love tousled hair. The album also features older tracks such as “Bamboo” and “Chili Town”, two songs that were already suggesting one year ago that the fawns would become interesting hinds.
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