Belfast’s Girl Names claim their third album Arms Around a Vision is a love letter to European elegance, Italian futurism, Russian constructivism, Germany’s Zero Group and Einstürzende Neubauten and David Bowie’s Berlin.
And you know what? It is indeed a hugely inspired and audacious collection of expansive and futuristic post-punk sorties that easily eclipse anything in their already compelling output to date.
Thanks in part to their association with US label Slumberland Records, Girls Names were lazily called Belfast’s answer to Crystal Stilts. On Arms Around A Vision , however, they sound bigger, brighter and far more confident.
There is a new-found boldness and directness inherent in titles such as ‘Reticience’, ‘Obsession’, ‘Desire Oscillations’ and ‘Dysmorphia’, plus magnificently moody and atmospheric music to match. Closing track ‘I Was You’ is their most moving moment yet. Overall, their swagger and assurance are a joy to behold.
Check out their highly entertaining new video for ‘A Hunger Artist’. It’s a riveting textbook lesson on mixing moodiness with humour, plus a playful nod towards the late Tony Wilson’s The Other Side of Midnight.
On the strength of this terrific third album, they are not to be missed when they swing by for livedates…