Women

(Jagjaguwar)

Sub Pop musician Chad VanGaalen recorded this Calgary quartet in a basement and crawl space, and while there’s certainly four-track grime there, what saves Women’s debut is variety. The sweet pop of “Cameras” and “Black Rice” are spaced equally from the squall of “January 8th” and “Flashlights” and the more fast-paced instrumental guitar mazes of “Sag Harbor Bridge” and “Lawncare.” Women obviously has late-1970s/early-1990s influences, but the meat has separated from the bone in a fashion quite its own; there’s no discernible singer, they cover a lot of sonic territory, and Women‘s relatively short for 10 songs. For the most part, the band gets in and out of a song without falling into noise wankery, almost as if they couldn’t wait to get into the next idea. (Thu., Mohawk, 12mid.)

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This article appears in March 20 • 2009.

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