The Gingers - Love YouLong Time

Fri 30th Jun, 2006 in Music Reviews

Pick an all-girl rock group of recent times. Sleater-Kinney? Sahara Hotnights? Le Tigre? The Spazzys? Um, Lash? This may be a slightly narrow-minded look at female involvement in the rock sphere but then so to is The Gingers’ take on the field. The Melbourne trio – Chelsea Wheatley, Etta Curry, Nellie Jackson – are barely legal but are well-versed in the work of their fore-sisters (was this at the expense of homework?) as well as the punk/power pop chords, or lack-of, of the Ramones.

Maybe it’s the older-brother side of me that brings out this ambivalence – The Gingers’ could very well be your little sister’s new favourite band. And it is just ambivalence, nothing vicious, nothing more. You see, the older-brother in me wants to criticise everything my sister listens to, but really deep down I want to protect her (and make her just like me). As such, I can admit that the group’s debut release, Love You Long Time, is five songs of extremely catchy, radio-friendly pop-rock with enough energy and girl-friendly subject matter to see the band win a large fan-base.

When opener ‘Evening Rose’, probably the strongest number, mentions shopping spree, Saturday night and high-heeled shoes, among many other teen-friendly terms, it’s not hard to see why The Gingers are being touted as yet another MySpace success story. Three fashionable young ladies playing fun yet formulaic tunes about boys, boys and boys – was there any doubt? But let’s not be too cynical: The Gingers may reach out to a young demographic yet that’s not such a bad thing. Amongst the chunky guitar riffs replete with obligatory screechy backing vocals, there are also a few musical surprises to be had. The pounding piano intro of ‘Hunter’ coupled with a resourceful use of the cowbell bring some pleasantly new sounds to a simple template. Wheatley’s Sleater-Kinney-like vocals are nice, even if the subject matter is quite something else.

One can only think that The Ginger’s devotion to the music their predecessors put out is a good thing. If the youth of today listen to Love You Long Time and then do their homework, they will arrive at the sources regardless. But for now The Gingers’ serve as a healthy educational package.