Smoosh - Free to Stay

  by Jamie Rowland

published: 5 / 4 / 2008

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Review

Three years on from Smoosh’s first release, their second album, 'Free to Stay' arrives on UK shores. In case you aren’t aware, Smoosh are the sibling duo of Asya (keyboards, vocals) and Chloe (drums, backing vocals), who were only 11 and 13 when debut 'She Like Electric' came out over here. Having been tutored and mentored by Death Cab For Cutie’s Jason McGerr, their songwriting abilities are perhaps surprisingly adept, and they have toured and played shows with the likes of Pearl Jam, Mates of State, Sleater-Kinney, the Go! Team and Eels, amongst many others. They’ve also been on CBBC’s programme ‘XChange’, so we’re talking big time. In the time between 'She Like Electric' and 'Free to Stay' the sisters’ songwriting has definitely improved; there is more of a completed feeling to this record (a few of the tracks on the band’s debut, to my ear, sounded like rough, demo recordings). Asya’s singing voice is also stronger and, although it still sounds like a young girl singing, she seems more confident in herself – besides which, it is a young girl singing, so what do you expect? One of the problems with reviewing this album is that it is something equivalent to criticising someone’s dress-sense based on a photograph of them aged four at Christmas in 1985 – the record was released in the States in 2006, and the Smoosh girls will undoubtedly have grown up and improved hugely in the time since. Not that they need to improve that much based on this record, mind you. It’s a very competent album, and the girls are unarguably talented in their writing and playing – Chloe’s drumming in particular is mentioned in live reviews, and you can definitely see why when listening to 'Free to Stay' (although it would be nice to squeeze in a fatty drum solo on the next record, please). This is a fun record which I would imagine will be particularly enjoyable and inspiring to any young rocklings (did I really just type that word? Really? I’m so sorry) who might pick up a copy. I only hope Smoosh’s next release will come out over here a little closer to the time it’s recorded, or else Asya and Chloe could be subjected to what I like to call ‘Olsen Twin syndrome’ - where no one knows what they are doing and they could be aged anywhere between 10 and 30 years old.

Track Listing:-

1 Find A Way
2 I Would Go
3 Free To Stay
4 Rock Song
5 Waiting For Something
6 Clap On
7 Glider
8 Gold
9 Organ Talk
10 She's Right
11 This Is Not What We've Become
12 Slower Than Gold

Label Links:-

http://www.barsuk.com/
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