Total Babes “Heydays”

Total Babes were formed in 2010 by Jayson Gerycz of Cloud Nothings and his friend Christopher Brown as an outlet for pop songs that could not be played in their noise-rock band Swindlella. This, their second album, clearly shows that it is a very fruitful outlet for what is a very different kind of sound.
The first couple of tracks, “Blurred Time” and “Hey Days” have a dark indie feel to them with a sound that is almost Joy Division influenced, or at least that is until they build in to the brighter choruses.
They then move on to full indie disco sound with “Bone Dry” and “We’ll Come Around” which have a scuzzy brit pop feel. Whilst “Circling” also adds a bit more of an industrial, grungy, sound to the mix. When the band also throw in the surprisingly delicate ballad of “Repeat Gold”, you will find yourself thinking of Blur, or at least Graham Coxon. Indeed, final track, “Can I Turn You On” has a real throwaway, indie pop, feel to it and sounds like a great festival number.

It is quite a surprise to learn that the Total Babes are an American band, let alone the fact that they come from a noise-rock background. They have certainly been successful in moving into a new sound where the emphasis is on pop, even possibly Brit pop. There is the sense that if they were championed by, say the NME, they would attract lots of fans with their grungy, indie pop sound.