Review Summary: Nash's Sophomore LP Is Uneven, But Often Entertaining
Don’t let “Paris,” the cheery opener, fool you: Kate Nash’s sophomore LP is extremely weighty, and far less carefree than her debut. The change in mood isn’t a total disaster, though; sometimes, the record feels brutally honest, and occasionally, it’s just plain fun.
The album’s strongest tracks are a trio of tunes about troubled relationships. “Kiss That Grrrl” takes place a bit earlier in a troubled relationship, with Nash warning her partner that she’ll be brokenhearted and revenge-hungry if he gets too close to another woman. The song is a refreshing change of pace for Nash, with the instrumentation and her vocal delivery reminding of 1960’s girl-pop (think Lesley Gore or the Shangri-La’s). On “Do Wah Doo,” the girl-group influence continues, as Nash professes that she doesn’t care about her male friend’s romance with her enemy… though she can’t stop herself from calling her a “bitch” at the end. And on “Early Christmas Present,” which has a dash of dream-pop in with the brew of indie rock Nash perfected on her debut, Nash berates an ex-boyfriend for running around on her, and letting her be the last to know. She wishes him all the worst, and by the end, it sounds as if she’s no closer to forgiveness. Though the songs aren't exactly mature, they perfectly capture the emotion in a dysfunctional relationship.
The rest of the record explores numerous different styles and topics, with mixed results. “I Just Love You More,” which contains only seven words (“I just love you more… than anything”), is a hard rocker that seems a bit unhinged; even though it feels like filler, though, at least it’s interesting filler. The interesting-filler sound continues on tracks like “I’ve Got a Secret,” where Nash briefly examines society’s homophobia. Elsewhere on the album, the songs feel less interesting: “I Hate Seagulls” sounds like a laundry list of her pet peeves, while “Mansion Song” includes a minute and a half of spoken-word rebellion that sounds forced ("I like flowers & I'm hardy & I take cocaine") before some tribal drums that sound seriously out-of-place take over.
If her mission was to prove that she’s a diverse musician, then Kate Nash’s sophomore album is a wild success: the first four tracks show more musical styles than everything on her debut combined. Unfortunately, the record’s unevenness establishes that Nash may be better off sticking to indie pop until she can master more styles.
