Girlband

Rock for Beginners (Indiestry Standard)
by Scott Hefflon

Girlband is made up of three guys who love melodic punk. Peppy and playful, like lots of good pop-punk bands in the mid-ands,-late-’90s Girlband occasionally dips into aggressive hardcore punk, sometimes get a little over-goofy, but a song like “Mypos” could win over the emopunk crowd as well (well, the rampage in the middle might be a bit much for their tender ears). Hell, if Yellowcard can sign to Capitol with metal guitars and non-mopey lyrics, Girlband oughtta be looked into, maybe nudged away from “skate or die” tough stuff, and hone in on either the “Survivor Car” kinda-Queers-style snapping bubblegum, the Blinky parts, or the emopunk parts (meaning the singer misses a lot of notes and fronts sensitivity). Kinda funny… The typically nasal’n’high pop-punk vocal here often gets a little, uh, “wet.” Like on “Top Score on Pole Position,” some of the vocals sound like the singer’s wearing a retainer. How many teenage girls’d buy a record by a band who’s singer wore a retainer? Marketed properly, there’s yer angle, guys. And write more songs like “Mypos.”
(www.girlbandrocks.com)