polaroids of androids

Despite the almost electro start of the record's opener, Get Ready To Die, there isn't too many surprises on this album. The group successfully melt together the various stages of their career - their punk garage rock birth (Emerald Green), their dreadful, pop-focused, radio friendly days (Romy) and their more recent experiments into the area of ear bleeding noise (Tremor) - with mixed results.

The most solid portion of this record is the middle trifecta of tracks - Six Feet Under, Always and White Boy - which although is the obvious card to play sees the group build the song around the contrast between front-lady Adalita's (occasionally) angelic vocals and the darker side of their sound. It's on these three songs, along with the closing pair Cupids Bow and More, that the group also successfully find the perfect balance between pop catchiness and emotional, honest delivery.

About 60% of Girl exists somewhere between pleasant and awesome. Unfortunately, the rest (roughly 40%) see the band attempt to put a slightly grittier edge to the commercially successful - yet cringe-worthy - pop-focused portion of their career (jeans with funny odours). Sadly, these tracks are painful enough to pretty much destroy the enjoyable moments. This record is good enough to please the group's loyal fanbase but not consistent enough to earn them new admirers.