Home Leigh - Goth Daughter

The last few years have given a seemingly more prominent rise to female fronted groups. The proliferation and success of a lot of these bands has been noted and appreciated. Alvvays struck a chord with me on first listen. Hop Along hasn’t been further than arm’s reach from the stereo in over a year now. Cayetana, Girlpool, and Sincere Engineer have all yielded fruits of a certain nostalgia with me, while not sounding rehashed. More like a cocktail of memories. I say this because I’ve obviously had a fairly big space in my music rotation for it. Salt Lake’s Home Leigh is a perfect addition to the list of these groups.

The album took me more than one listen to digest as a compendium; however, that’s not a mark against it.

The first thing we should address is it was made in twenty-four hours, with no prior concepting or writing. Four tracks made in a remote Arizona home over a weekend; they had a lot to compact into a short EP. It’s not-quite-lo-fi quality lends to the prevailing earnestness of Brittney Townsend’s voice while not having the bad, hanging mic, DIY sound of all the punk records we made with four track recorders in our salad days.

This album is a fairly stark departure from their last effort, Furniture. Leaving behind a somewhat Spirit of the Beehive, shoegaze sound for a more stripped down, indie rock creation. Also featuring Brittney Townsend exclusively on lead vox.

The first track, “Sports,” has a pop sound and wildly self-conscious feel of a Rilo Kiley fan’s old journal. It’s a punchy, anthemic tune. Replete with chimy sounding single coils that any indie effort would almost be remiss to exclude. Brimming with malaise and a poignant articulation of being out of place, front woman Brittney Townsend regales us with the sensation of discontent. Put this tune on your next mixtape featuring Swearin’, or Remember Sports.

“Montana (We Need a Divorce)” immediate derails this pop-punk sound for a more bleak and yearning mood that rounds out the album. It almost stands in line with one of Lisa Walker’s tracks without sounding anything like Wussy.

The entire EP has vulnerability at its forefront. The unabashed honesty of each song is the link between them, despite changing melodies and tempos. They have a prowess for naming their beasts and giving form to their worst thoughts.

The parameters that they set to make this EP are hardly revolutionary, but the quality of the product from that is a solid effort for any indie rock, indie pop, or post-riot grrrl fan. File this album in the collection next to Cayetana, Chumped, and Blowout.

Goth Daughter is readily available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Google Music, Spotify, Facebook, Youtube, and Spotify.