Cheap Girls

Cheap Girls: Giant OrangeGiant Orange (2012)
Rise Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: thepopeofchili-townthepopeofchili-town
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on February 21st 2012With just one listen to Giant Orange, Cheap Girls' Rise Records debut, and unquestionably the best thing they've done to date, it becomes clear just how far the group has come since their debut, Find Me a Drink Home, four years ago. While that album displayed a style heavily indebted to '80s college.

With just one listen to Giant Orange, Cheap Girls' Rise Records debut, and unquestionably the best thing they've done to date, it becomes clear just how far the group has come since their debut, Find Me a Drink Home, four years ago. While that album displayed a style heavily indebted to '80s college rock, and its follow up My Roaring 20's featured a more '90s radio rock/Gin Blossom-influenced sound, Giant Orange features their most modern sounding production to date, courtesy of Against Me!'s Tom Gabel, which allows the songs to be appreciated on their own merits, rather than looked at as attempts to revive the sounds of past eras.

Opener "Gone All Summer," which the group has been playing live for well over a year, kicks things off with some roaring guitars that J. Mascis himself would be proud of, as well as the most confident vocals we've heard from bassist/vocalist Ian Graham to date. The song's chugging palm muted verses make it perhaps the most aggressive Cheap Girls song we've heard to date, as well.

The next few tracks feature the same mixture of loud guitars and memorable vocal hooks we've come to expect from the band, but more refined and with sharpened songwriting skills. Backing vocals also play a bigger role in the band's sound than ever before, notably on "Communication Blues" and "Manhattan On Mute." "Mercy Go Round" could almost be described as taking a dual vocal approach. This adds an interesting new dimension to Cheap Girls' sound that I look forward to hearing more of in the future.

The first track from Giant Orange that the band previewed, via a demo on YouTube a few months back was the catchy, midtempo "Cored To Empty." The version that ended up making the album is actually quite different. Nearly entirely acoustic, save for an Adam Aymor guitar solo, the track stands out from the rest, giving listeners a break from the onslaught of distorted guitars found elsewhere on the album, and can be described as the "Her and Cigarettes" of Giant Orange. This coming only a few tracks before "If You Can't Swim," one of the fastest songs the group has ever written, proves Giant Orange to be Cheap Girls' most diverse record yet.

Cheap Girls have improved with every release and Giant Orange is no exception. This album is the result of near constant touring, and finds the group improving as musicians as well as songwriters. Every song on Giant Orange is a winner, and will no doubt please fans as well as win new ones. Music is not, and should not be, a competition, but of all their contemporaries dropping albums this week, the Menzingers, the Sidekicks, etc… Cheap Girls win.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

TibbsTastic (3 days ago)

Fantastic record

bandgeekmafia78 (January 24, 2013)

This album is great. Can't stop listening to it.

angryderek (January 3, 2013)

awful

champion_sound (March 15, 2012)

I love this record and i'm in college...does this mean it's college rock?

8/10 great record for sure

champion_sound (March 15, 2012)

great record

AmateurChemist (February 25, 2012)

This sounds like J Church and I like it

mattneric (February 25, 2012)

Great review! I'm absolutely digging this album.

http://mattneric.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/cheap-girls-g iant-orange/

onegirlarmy (February 22, 2012)

On first listen I'm liking this more than My Roaring 20's, which wasn't bad but I was not crazy about it overall (despite "Ft Lauderdale" being one of my favorite Cheap Girls tracks). Thumbs up.

EchosMyron (February 22, 2012)

Frickey Weaver!

Michael_Jackson_Jordan (February 22, 2012)

Free Energy is not '90s revivalism. Maybe late '70s Detroit Rock City.

Yuck and Male Bonding come to mind.

shawnlw (February 22, 2012)

So I just happened to be at Mac's Bar in Lansing, MI on the 17th of February. I had no idea who these guys were, or that they were even playing that night. The bar was packed solid and everyone was watching the show. There were dudes dancing and screaming the lyric of every song at the front of the stage. I enjoyed the set, so I picked up a copy of Giant Orange from the merch booth. Having listened to it after the show, I'd say the guys have a huge, bright sound and a way with a melody, but they drive their hooks into the ground and totally lack dynamics. To their credit, they address the problem by keeping it brief and throwing in an acoustic song to keep the album from becoming tedious. But Cheap Girls have a lot of work to do. This is not a four-and-a-half star album, just a fun little record by a band with some promise. If you get they chance though, check them out live. Preferably in a crowded, dingy punk bar while drinking cheap beer. You'll have a good time.

MN_DrNick (February 22, 2012)

To MJJ below me: do you mean Free Energy? You might have trouble with that one.

Interested in who is on your list.

Michael_Jackson_Jordan (February 22, 2012)

I gave this band an honest try, but it's just not grabbing my attention. The commenter below who said it was one-dimensional, one pace, monotone and so forth hit the nail on the head. There are so many other bands doing the '90s alternative-indie revivalism so much better.

MN_DrNick (February 22, 2012)

Hey angryderek: Welcome to the world of punk rock and hardcore and etc.

r3vengetherapy (February 22, 2012)

Upon first listen, this is so awesome. I really enjoyed Find Me a Drink Home, but My Roaring 20's didn't do much for me, and I don't know why. This automatically got me hooked. Really great stuff.

scrambledeggsandtoast (February 21, 2012)

I'm sort of torn on this one. It's got some pretty cool songs for sure, but there's no way it's as good as My Roaring 20s. It's pretty uneven, at times the melodies seem to have not been worked on at all, and just the first attempt at trying to fit some lyrics in there. It would also be nice if they threw in a more interesting chord change at least for a few songs. I still enjoy it though, maybe it'll grow on me.

skavoovee (February 21, 2012)

I really like this album, but it's not that much of a different direction/sound for them. I'd really classify it as getting better at what they do. Tommy G's producing definitely helped with that too, as this is definitely their best sounding album to date.

That said, I listened to it all night, and most of this past weekend, when it showed up at my door on Friday.

Dante3000 (February 21, 2012)

Classic Derek!
Really really excited to hear this. I'm still trying to figure out if I buy a useless CD or a settle for a lower quality iTunes version.

cbsrocksteady (February 21, 2012)

Not too different from the rest of their output, but fuck it i don't really care. They found their recipe and its workin. If it aint broke dont fix it. Album rules.

Xshoutoutx (February 21, 2012)

Definitely not their best album. It's nice to finely hear them with good production, but there is something missing that brings all of these songs together. Either way, it's more CG songs and that rules!

jizzo (February 21, 2012)

Great review whoever wrote this. I had to buy this off itunes til the vinyl gets here, sooooo fucking good! This band brings one word to mind "Nostalgia" I'm not gonna say everything that's already been said before but I will say this: The word "Douchbag" was invented to describe "Douchbags" like 'angryderek" what a fucking "douchbag"

nickyno (February 21, 2012)

Far and away their best album. To bad there is no track like "Pure Hate" on this album. Cored to Empty is fantastic. Great production has done these guys wonders. A top 10 album for sure, but leaves me with to much to be desired to make it top 5.

canaandrumzz (February 21, 2012)

Such a great record. Turns out Tom Gabel knows what he's doing on the other side of the sound booth. While I loved the demo I do really appreciate that they stripped down Cored to Empty

superskabro (February 21, 2012)

woah. what is your definition of "college rock"? Dave Mathews? Incubus? Bright Eyes? The Distillers? Against Me!? all those bands have/had huge college followings and charted well on the CMJ (College Music Journal) charts. Most indie/punk stuff is popular amongst college-aged students. It's a fact.

superskabro (February 21, 2012)

solid tunes from solid dudes.

angryderek (February 21, 2012)

get over yourself, popeofcoochietown! this record is a JOKE. it has one tone, one vocal melody, one pace. ONE deminsional non punk music that makes more sense being lumped in with college rock shit than it does here. this record and this BAND are a big fat joke.....suck on THAT

EchosMyron (February 21, 2012)

A 9? Just no.