Short Song For A Short Mind

Girls In Hawaii "Short Song For A Short Mind"

[right click to download]

McCULLOUGH's MP3 OF THE WEEK 003: 03.13.2006

Title: "Short Song For A Short Mind"
Artist: Girls In Hawaii
Album: From Here To There
Year: 2005

When I first read about the band Girls In Hawaii, the terms the reviewer used to describe them that stood out to me were "shimmery", "melodic", "sad-sack-pop", and most importantly "Belgian". Yes, this is a Belgian pop group. You can hear it in some of the annunciations of the english lyrics they sing in. What's most interesting is that when i visited their website (http://www.girlsinhawaii.be/), it appears to completely in French. Except for where you click to "Enter In To Girls In Hawaii". Could their chief lyricist possibly be the bilingual Muscles from Brussels, Jean-Claude Van Damme?

Nah, he's not this sensitive.

Girls In Hawaii is a horrible band name. I could come up with something better than that. I used to keep a notebook in which i would jot down band name ideas whenever they came to me. The list soon turned into a list of nonsenical quotes that I would use or hear each given day, but this is becoming a screeching tangent into a brick wall. The point is: everything in that notebook was cooler than "Girls In Hawaii".

However, what they lack in nomenclature, they make up for in songwriting. Those terms the reviewer used immediately reminded me of one of my old guilty pleasures, the Lemonheads. They suck, i know, and 'Come On Feel The Lemonheads' is still one of my favorite records. [Also, I'm going daisy picking this sunday, anyone care to join me?] Girls In Hawaii definitely fit that comparison, since they stay rather quiet most of the time (I hear a bit of the old Belle & Sebastian in this as well), and rely solely on songwriting skills, sweet skills. Sorry, no screeching Steve Vai guitar solos on this one.

Speaking of songwriting, i think "Short Song For A Short Mind" has some of my favorite song lyrics of the year so far (even though it was made in 2005. Yes, I'm capable of time-travel) because..... I think some of the words may have gotten lost in translation:

-A beer is all I have to offer you... Am I drinking too much ?-

I say that to people all the time.

-Don't have anything to do...with you
You won't have good things to do...with you-

Well, the first part made sense. And:

Do you want the sun ?
Hahaha
Hahaha

I'll hopefully be seeing this band at SXSW. I read on a bulletin somewhere that they're bringing their own homeland's beer along for their first trip to America. Brilliant. And Belgian!

girlsinhawii.be