Music Review - Indie Round-Up: Kelli Hanson, The Beautiful Girls, Darius Lux - Page 2

Sample the sounds of this original new band at their website or listen and buy at CD Baby.

The Beautiful Girls, Ziggurats

On their new CD, and especially on its first half, the Beautiful Girls indulge in a harsher sound than I was used to hearing from the band - more electric guitar, is what it comes down to. But they retain the precision ska-reggae feel and the sharp, straight-ahead songwriting sensibility that distinguish them from the pack of bands that take inspiration from the Islands.

The evolution works well, but still, some of the best songs come on the quieter second half of the CD: "In Love," "She's Evil," and the gentle "Dela" among them. That's not to detract from the harder tracks, like "Royalty" and "I Thought About You," with their heavy riffage. I found them to be a positive development in the band's sound, and this CD is certainly up there with the Beautiful Girls' best work, as well as a good introduction to their music for those new to the band.

Hear some of the new tracks at their Myspace page.

Darius Lux, Arise

Darius Lux, an excessively talented one-man band, weaves textured, hooky power pop into coruscating R&B with strong tenor vocals and harmonies. It's a winning musical recipe.

"Xtraordinary" and "Every Single Moment" are what used to be called radio-single worthy. So is the formulaic "You Take My Breath Away." But every song on the CD boasts skilled arrangements and hooks, from "World Keeps On Turnin" with its tasteful acoustic guitar intro to the religio-political hidden track at the end, and from the forceful power pop of "The Great Unknown" to the spirited boy-band soul of "Life Goes On."

The CD's only problem is that the words are sometimes preachy, and often very cliched. Sappy sentiment sells, of course, and for the most part the positive, powerful elements of this work outweigh the obviousness of the lyrics. The overall feel suggests Seal, or more currently, Marc Broussard, and it's right up there in quality. But my enjoyment of the CD would have been significantly stepped up if the lyrics weren't so full of platitudes and "messages." This is particularly frustrating when the music is so good.

Article Author: Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics. As a writer he contributes most often to the Culture section, where he often reviews NYC theater; he also writes a semi-regular review round-up of independent music releases. …

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