Minimalist Shoegaze Goth

On Facebook, the Yardlets indicate their interests as “pre-Internet,” which is an indicator of a couple things: that they are awesome, and that they are kind of old. The Montreal, Canadian band members are already sort of famous; original duo Jeff Edwards and Sam Goldberg Jr. have been musicians for awhile, Goldberg being in one of the greatest indie bands ever, Broken Social Scene. And their on-and-off counterparts come from bands such as Death From Above 1979 and The Stills. The Yardlet’s latest full-length, Good Hangs, takes a different approach and path compared to their first release Middle Ages, which focused heavily on loud instruments and lots of lo-fi and noise, and was all recorded on a laptop in a small amount of time. Good Hangs, however, fits the shoegaze and goth genres and was recorded in an actual studio.

While Edwards is a musician, he didn’t really know how to play guitar at first, so by default the band has taken a minimalist approach. Single and album opener “Baby Deer,” for instance, is just one guitar note being played the whole way through. Most tracks have a Marilyn Manson vibe, particularly “Ain’t Too Young To Feel.” “California Blanket” is one of the few tracks where we get our sun-bleached lo-fi back.

Lyrically, shit gets dirty and provocative. “I Need Brain” sounds like a direct euphemism expressing the need to get a blow job, but the lyrics suggest otherwise: “I know what you’re thinkin’, I like blondes with big tits / It’s not your ass, it’s not your legs, what I want is under your skull.” And in “Well Fed” it just gets weird: “Like a big fat bird I was fucked … Streaming my phone, tugging my dick, they like my post.”

It seems the Yardlets aren’t trying to take themselves too seriously with Good Hangs. And Goldberg could probably do better. Good Hangs is not total bullshit, but it is a little bit bullshit.