Being in a band built on the generic gameplan that Spaniards Hinds are becomes a bit tricky three or four albums down the line. As with the likes of Altered Image and Bis in previous decades, what do you do if your initial premise was based largely on your fizzy, exuberant youth a couple of years further on? When you're still obviously young but are wanting to make a slightly different statement, and also hoping, not unnaturally, to reach out to a broader audience.
In the case of Hinds third album The Prettiest Curse the answer seems to be, you reach an uneasy and not altogether convincing compromise. Opening song and recent signal Good Bad Times seems to be a case in point. It reminded me most of all of those sickly overfed AOR ballads that clotted up the charts in the mid-Eighties. Not a good start.
Elsewhere the band stay close to their brash, girlie, Indie roots and fare better. There are plenty of good tunes here but it doesn't necessarily add up to a wholely coherent statement. Perhaps best seen as a pick and mix to return to chiefly for your own personal favourites and ignore the ones you don't care for. Hinds continue to be worthy of attention and it should be interesting what happens next.
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