God Damn Doo Wop

The God Damn Doo Wop Band - "Broken Hearts" Afternoon Records

I only heard this band because of the mixtape that was being given away at Wishin ' and Hopin' the other week, the one song on that tape - "posso", also the first song on this album - coupled with a quick look at their myspace was enough for me to order the album.

Comparisons to the pipettes would be as lazy as they would be inaccurate. True, there are three female singers, and the male musicians are absent front the front cover (though i think it's them pictured beaten and bloodied on the back), and the songs are very much in a retro style. BUT the songs on this album have a much more authentic 1950's Doo Wop feel to them, and the quality of the vocals would make a the Diskettes a sounder point of reference, but still wide of the mark.There's a hint of girl gang swagger in a number of the songs and it contrasts with - or perhaps compliments the Doo Wop style excellently. It could be the presence of a saxophone that adds extra depth to the songs, and it's obviously important to the band, so much so that that the 4th song on the album "johnny" is a lament about their sax player being grounded and thus a gig is threatened with cancellation.

I wrote 2 full pages of notes about this album, but really what I need to say is that I've listened to it on average 3 times a day for the past 3 days.