It’s graduation season. Students are walking across stages, feeling proud about their accomplishments or the amount of beers they shotgunned bed that one night when they should have been studying. People are making goodbyes, having drunken cries, and coming to the realization that their fellow classmates are all going to different directions.
In this emo season the two-piece band the Verdigirls dropped their first semi-full length, the EP Heartbreak hour. It could not have come at a better time. The two sisters are practiced at drumming up moody indie girl vibes on their twitter, and they are equally adept musically. Their self described ” sad girl electro chamber pop” is filled with reverb, mournful cellos and twinkling keyboard arpeggios. It sounds grand in a way that reminds me of The Smiths, but with more harmonies and drum machines.
The EP’s opening track, “Long Gone” is one of their strongest. The wistful chorus of ” now your gone, it’s been so long, now. Yooouuure gooone” made me cry as I listened to it on the floor of my childhood bedroom. The sparkling opening sounds like a less witch-like version of Grimes, and the strings and forlorn lyrics walk the tightrope of bitter and sweet.
The balance is continued all over the ep, with a breakup where the Verdigirls sing ” dye my hair to forget you. I see in red, but I think in blue” setting up a rad juxtaposition. There’s also an ode about that special time late at night/early I the morning where emotions run deep ( ” Heartbreak hour” ). They loose their footing on the second track, which wails ” I don’t care” in a way that is less Morrisey and more Avril Lavigne, but the Verdigirls probably liked old school Avril just as much as The Smiths. Anyway, the chorus is still stuck in my head, so something must be working.
The influences that the Verdigirls pull from may seem unexpected to those with lame preconceptions of what ” sad girl electro chamber pop” might sound like. Their looping instrumentals hearken to hip-hop production techniques, and lyrics like “I wrote you a letter, never sent it in the mail. Whatever I do, I always seem to fail” sound like something Kurt Cobain might pen. This collage of influences reflects the Verdigirls place in a time where nostalgia is exercised on google and classic influences are mixed together with modern sensibilities on sites like Tumblr and Pinterest. It all makes for a debut that will soundtrack post-grad blues for decades to come.
So yeah stream the sister’s rad record below, and follow them on twitter because they rule. If you wan’t to own it IRL, you can buy it from Manimal Vinyl.
Sad Gay Friend 