Since the Covid lockdown finally ended, Sweden's Girl Scout have been bashing out alt-rock songs which are raw but refined; in-your-ears and satisfying, but with well-crafted complications. On the one hand, they've got power chords perfectly sussed out; but they don't stop there, adding in almost mathematical riffs and beats. That's what elevates Girl Scout's music well beyond the usual guitar-based post-grunge, without losing the core of their garage-nurtured sound. There's great musicianship, but they've still got soul, plenty of soul.
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The 'Headache' EP – the band's second – is a five-track collection of those kinds of songs, peaking with 'I Just Needed You To Know' at position four on the record. This has to be my favourite Girl Scout track. It's a non-stop blast, the band going at it with full energy, manipulating guitar strings with jaw-dropping panache.
Despite that intense energy which presses steadily forward like a sharp, urgent arrow, there are plenty of subtleties too: the song opens with a lone guitar, fuzzily plucked, with drums layered in, followed by the vocals. From there, the song frequently drops and re-builds, the guitars sometime reducing to chunky riffs or the bass pushing forward to greater prominence. After the first chorus and a reprise of the main, infectious set of riffs, some different themes are brought in - short, raucous breakdowns, broken guitar wails, and then later a more sweeping section which envelopes you.
'I Just Needed You To Know' never ceases to make me say wow when it finally ends. It's the way this band walk the tightrope of complex, rapid riffs, sounding casual – almost as if it could all fall apart – but at the same time holding it so tightly. I can also vouch for the fact that this is even more awesome when performed live, having seen them try out the song during their slot at Nottingham's Dot To Dot festival earlier this year.
But I need to go back to the start and stand back a bit.
'Honey', Girl Scout's most recent single, has a different vibe. Opening with a lo-fi beat, it's a little crisper, smoother and more jangly, but that soundscape is offset by growly guitars, too. Emma sounds more reflective, her vocals soaring with arresting intensity in the chorus.
Title track 'Headache' is an interesting one, beginning in a mellow realm and remaining there for the most part. Over relatively stripped back instrumentation, Emma muses on complex feelings. The tune is unsettling, not alighting firmly on a resolution; and so, the theme of the song is portrayed with uncanny skills. The band describe 'Headache' as "AAAAAAAH!!!! THAT feeling. Straight-up hate and frustration. Feeling hurt and feeling funny about people. Feeling funny about life as a whole..." Ambiguous? A bit— but boy, do I get what they mean.
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Despite that intense energy which presses steadily forward like a sharp, urgent arrow, there are plenty of subtleties too: the song opens with a lone guitar, fuzzily plucked, with drums layered in, followed by the vocals. From there, the song frequently drops and re-builds, the guitars sometime reducing to chunky riffs or the bass pushing forward to greater prominence. After the first chorus and a reprise of the main, infectious set of riffs, some different themes are brought in - short, raucous breakdowns, broken guitar wails, and then later a more sweeping section which envelopes you.
'I Just Needed You To Know' never ceases to make me say wow when it finally ends. It's the way this band walk the tightrope of complex, rapid riffs, sounding casual – almost as if it could all fall apart – but at the same time holding it so tightly. I can also vouch for the fact that this is even more awesome when performed live, having seen them try out the song during their slot at Nottingham's Dot To Dot festival earlier this year.
But I need to go back to the start and stand back a bit.
Emma Jansson's vocals are spot on throughout the EP. There's just enough of the grungey, couldn't-care delivery there, but she's ready to jump it up a notch and roar just when that elevation of energy is needed. 'Desert Island Movies' showcases that approach, from the almost slack opening lines, to the sugar-punk, fuzzed-out buzz of the chorus: "I don't want to do this again, I think I need funnier friends...". Girl Scout are achingly cool here, as they decry, with wry and pinpoint observation, shallowness, pretension, the chasing of futile goals, and 35-dollar bottles of wine that "taste like ass". The Valley Girl sample is a great touch, too.
'Honey', Girl Scout's most recent single, has a different vibe. Opening with a lo-fi beat, it's a little crisper, smoother and more jangly, but that soundscape is offset by growly guitars, too. Emma sounds more reflective, her vocals soaring with arresting intensity in the chorus.
Title track 'Headache' is an interesting one, beginning in a mellow realm and remaining there for the most part. Over relatively stripped back instrumentation, Emma muses on complex feelings. The tune is unsettling, not alighting firmly on a resolution; and so, the theme of the song is portrayed with uncanny skills. The band describe 'Headache' as "AAAAAAAH!!!! THAT feeling. Straight-up hate and frustration. Feeling hurt and feeling funny about people. Feeling funny about life as a whole..." Ambiguous? A bit— but boy, do I get what they mean.
Here, and throughout the EP, Girl Scout skilfully explore those feelings that can pop up "at life's most random moments". To be able to analyse the complexity of life - an unfathomable mystery in so many ways - in this way takes a rare talent, but this group of musicians deftly do exactly that.
After the meandering confusion of 'Headache', those defiant, rampant chords of 'I Just Needed You To Know' arrive like a welcome flood to sweep the path clean for the final track, 'I'm So Sorry'. This is a gorgeously cathartic track in every way - the broad feel and steady pace, the firm drums, thick layers of guitars both shimmering and firm, and of course Emma's vocal guiding us through from moments of beauty to guttural cries and screams as the EP closes.
"I am a shell of a human being, there's nothing left of me, and I could never love you the way you deserve... and I'm so sorry," she sings. The words "I am sorry" come many, many honest times throughout the song: as with the rest of the EP, it's hard hitting but uplifting in its feeling of shared emotion.
This is an EP which goes way beyond a simple collection of five tracks. With flashes of wry humour, soul- and heart-baring words, and closely-honed musicianship, it's quite simply superb.
After the meandering confusion of 'Headache', those defiant, rampant chords of 'I Just Needed You To Know' arrive like a welcome flood to sweep the path clean for the final track, 'I'm So Sorry'. This is a gorgeously cathartic track in every way - the broad feel and steady pace, the firm drums, thick layers of guitars both shimmering and firm, and of course Emma's vocal guiding us through from moments of beauty to guttural cries and screams as the EP closes.
"I am a shell of a human being, there's nothing left of me, and I could never love you the way you deserve... and I'm so sorry," she sings. The words "I am sorry" come many, many honest times throughout the song: as with the rest of the EP, it's hard hitting but uplifting in its feeling of shared emotion.
This is an EP which goes way beyond a simple collection of five tracks. With flashes of wry humour, soul- and heart-baring words, and closely-honed musicianship, it's quite simply superb.
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Photo credit: Christoffer Zetterlund and Emilia Jagerman