New Music: Matthew Smith Group – The Girls

The Girls makes its influences easily identifiable, though when it results in a song as chilled, downbeat, and downright catchy as this, does that matter?

Matthew Smith Group is the new album from the ex-Outrageous Cherry songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist, who has rounded up a group of stellar musicians to complete the group the album is named after.

The most overt influences for me are the west coast hymns of The Beach Boys and the sonic adventurism of The Beatles. It’s like having you soul cleansed by the sun and buffeted by a warm, gentle breeze.

The lyrics are far from escapist, though, offering a noticeable contrast to the good-times feel of the arrangement and vocals. The counterpoints of bubblegum rock and bleak themes appear often throughout the album – joy with awareness of lies in the future – as if Smith and bandmates were composing a songbook for a disappearing world.

Those bandmates include Outrageous Cherry’s rhythm section of Colleen Burke (We Ragazzi, Smog) on bass and Maria Nuccilli (Deadbeat Beat) on drums, lead guitarist Ava East (Shadow Show), avant-electronic improviser Chris Pottinger (Cotton Museum, Odd Clouds, Slither) on Moog synthesizer, and avant-jazz composer/instrumentalist Molly Jones on saxophone.

Matthew Smith Group is out now via Tall Texan Records – you can find it on vinyl on Bandcamp, and it’s streaming on Spotify and YouTube Music. Head to the band’s Facebook and Instagram for more listening options, and band news.

Header image by Leni Sinclair