Album Review: The Soap Girls - "In My Skin"

 

Very much not a band afraid of controversy, the SoapGirls are one of those bands where you do start to worry that their public image could be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it certainly gets your attention but you do occasionally worry that they're in danger of becoming "that band who are more famous for hardly wearing any clothes than for their music".

And it's a shame because with In My Skin, the SoapGirls have delivered arguably their strongest effort to date with a more melodic approach as evidenced on the Go-Go's style opener Breathe and the sinister chugging Demons (which sounds oddly like a glammed-up Amy Winehouse fronting Garbage) proving the girls' knack with a catchy chorus and a good hook.

The only drawback to In My Skin is that at 14 tracks and 62 minutes and most of the tracks veering close to or over the five minute mark, it's arguably a bit overlong for its own good and some of the later tracks like Summer Rain and Promise You tend to sink into anonymity a bit. But there's enough good moments on here to make it worth a listen - Wasted sounds like Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes being dragged into a dingy back alley and given a pummelling by the Runaways and the title track and Heart In Bloom both have a swooping gothy menace about them.

The SoapGirls are still a little way short of being a genuinely great band but they're showing signs of moving forward with every release. Keep on at this rate (and maybe be a bit more ruthless in choosing which tracks make the album and which don't) and there's nothing to suggest they might just deliver that top drawer glam-punk album they've always intermittently threatened next time out.

Bandcamp Link 

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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