Some Girls stay fresh and clever

Sept 27, 2003—Some Girls played the Patio on Friday night, when the new rock trio did all it could to convince every audience member to buy a copy of its debut album, Feel It.

That may be a perfunctory goal of every live performance, but it's no modest accomplishment.

Singer-guitarist Juliana Hatfield, bass player Heidi Gluck and drummer Freda Love advertised their recording as a soundtrack for a lifestyle. Because Feel It offers a song for every mood, the pitch proved irresistible.

Yet there's no revolution in their way of living. In fact, Feel It feeds on Generation X and slacker stereotypes that coalesced around the time Hatfield and Love broke onto the indie-rock scene as Blake Babies in the late-1980s.

Fortunately, Some Girls keep things fresh and clever when crafting sound bites about dropping out, being disillusioned by love and finding salvation in the rock:

— "I love not living in the world," from the loopy and lazy "On My Back."

— "Our love is real and almost true," from the sadly piercing "Almost True."

— "Turn it on, turn it up," from the musical love letter "Necessito."

Hatfield earned extra credit for maintaining focus on her band of the moment. Steering clear of a trip down memory lane, she sang none of her modern-rock favorites from the '90s and the only Blake Babies number, "Nothing Ever Happens," came from a 2001 reunion album.

It's a further tribute to Feel It that Hatfield never lost the attention of the Patio's crowd.

The trio's playing was bold and showy during "Robot City," an ironic contrast to the song's lyrical message. Here, Hatfield uses a fictional celebrity couple to make a point about rampant consumerism. "They tried not buying anything today," she sang.

Drummer Love, whose singing may be improbably more pure and childlike than Hatfield's distinctive delivery, starred during a rendition of "Launch Pad." This tune allowed three-part harmony at points, a feature certainly worth reviving on any sequel to "Feel It."

Two memorable covers supplied bookends for the show.

Up first was "Native Tongue," a minimalist call to rock from Love's other band, the Bloomington-based Mysteries of Life.

At night's end came Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart." With Gluck adding accents on harmonica, this performance suggested Tommy James on a trippy hangover — perhaps poking around for a follow-up to "Crimson and Clover."

In terms of "Native Tongue" and "Only Love Can Break Your Heart," these were exclusive moments and you just had to be there.

"Feel It," however, resides at a record store, waiting for you right now.

—David Lindquist
Reprinted from the Indianapolis Star