Release Date: 04.22.08
A recipe for a jealous girlfriend, by Bob Ladewig.
Step one; remind your girlfriend which actresses are on your list. The list of girls you have decided it’s okay to sleep with if the chance were to present itself. Change your netflix queue to feature only movies with actresses from your list. Insist on watching these movies with your girlfriend, all the while making longing sighs and catcalls each time the list-girls appear on screen.
Step two; acknowledge your girlfriend when you get home from work, but spend more time playing with your dog.
Step three; invite your dude friends over for dinner. Take a lot of time preparing a good meal. Serve your friends first and let your girlfriend know she can have whatever is left over.
Step four; fall in love with the sounds of the debut album by the Jealous Girlfriends and talk about their music incessantly around your actual girlfriend.
That last step may be the easiest to accomplish as this Brooklyn four-piece has created a wonderful welcome to the summertime album. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a typical Beach Boys-esque summer-on-the-beach type album; this debut is more the nighttime-in-the-hot-sun style album.
Jealous Girlfriends are a Brooklyn quartet that sounds like Mazzy Star seducing the New Pornographers. It’s a mix of longing shoegaze and perfect pop, creating a lush and wonderful pallet of wonderful complimentary sounds. The name Jealous Girlfriends may be more than that of a clever, talented band; it also serves as a warning to all straight spoken indie rock dudes. After hearing the voice of Holly Miranda you may become enraptured by her beautiful, raspy (and shoegazy) vocal style. So much so, that you may want to spend more time with this album than your actual, physical lady friend. Lucky for you she splits her time as lead vocalist with Josh Abbott and depending on your personality, your lady may not find his voice as threatening as Holly’s… and let me stress may not. These tunes have a way of getting into your head and redecorating your life to fit their needs. It’s dark and catchy, while keeping a poppy attitude.
“Secret Identity” sets the tone for the album with its lazy progression and hazy passion. The down tempo nature of the track creates a hypnotizing tone to underscore one of the most beautiful indie rock voices you’ll hear this year. The torch song “Organs On The Kitchen Floor” will remind you of the first time you heard Fiona Apple and had to change your sheets in the morning when you awoke.
With this self-titled album the Jealous Girlfriends have found their footing and will continue to build their audience of little hipsters just figuring out that it’s okay to get a little dirty. Summertime in the sun belongs to the Beach Boys, but when the sun goes down evenings in the summer now belong to Jealous Girlfriends.
