It’s one thing to give these reference points the spotlight, but the goal is to transcend them in some fashion.
One song later, they bring in the ruby-colored synths and spirit of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” to augment their own “If I Could Change Your Mind,” and follow that up with “Honey & I,” which hews as close to the template of Eurythmics classic “Right By Your Side” without becoming an straight cover song.
#HAIM DAYS ARE GONE ZIP 4SHARED MAC#
2” hybrid then moves into a mixture of late ‘70s/early ‘80s rock touchstones from their beloved Fleetwood Mac to Linda Ronstadt to Billy Squier. The most recent, and blatant, example is the group’s latest single “The Wire.” It opens with a “Heartache Tonight”/”Rock & Roll, pt. Lately, though, the feeling has shifted to: “Huh, this song sounds almost exactly like that song.” This is the trouble Robin Thicke and Pharrell have stumbled into with their facsimile of Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up.” And it’s something that you are going to be hearing about a lot in reference to Days Are Gone, the first LP by all-sister trio HAIM, because these young women don’t try to hide their pastiche approach to songwriting in the slightest. The idea, as far as I understood it, was to imbue in the listener the feeling of “Oh, this song reminds me of that song.” How a band or artist distinguishes the work is in the shading or smoothing over of those imprints. With the triumvirate of googly-eyed rhythms, sinfully catchy melodies and a breeziness that seems only fitting, they’ve served up one of the most auspicious debuts of the year.When knocking a pop song into shape, the finished product is always going to bear the marks of its influences. For band who released their first single less than 12 months ago, Days Are Gone is a sizable accomplishment. The most exciting thing about Haim’s sound is the number of potential direction they can take it from here. In the best-case scenario, as found on the irresistible “Don’t Save Me” or the nimble single “The Wire,” there are modestly incisive rundowns of love lost. The repeated chant of “Never look back/Never give up” on icebreaker “Falling” drives this point home quite well, along with crisp percussion and a metric ton of reverb gloss. If you need a little motivation, however, Haim have you covered. Then again, if you’ve come to this album looking for life advice, you’re in the wrong place. If Days Are Gone has a weak spot, it’s most definitely found in the lyrics. “My Song 5” brings Sleigh Bells levels of compression, while the titanium pulse of “Let Me Go” is both confrontational and entrancing. Danielle sounds like any one of Stevie Nicks, Fiona Apple and Victoria Legrande, but her heavy use of staccato inflections lends an electrifying R&B wiggle to “Forever” and “If I Could Change Your Mind.” When they do mix it up sonically, all of their affable qualities translate. While the production values are somewhat standardized, the album finds diversity by way of sundry rhythms and sharp vocal work. In other words, the kind of music that inspires honest-to-goodness excitement.Īnd if you like the Haim songs you’ve already heard, you’ll probably like the rest of them. The melodies are instinctive and effortless, the lyrics undemanding, and the production (courtesy of Ariel Rechtshaid and James Ford) is shiny and modern. Much of the appeal of Days Are Gone lies in the simplicity of its sometimes pop/sometimes rock songs. Instead, it’s so steady-handed, so influentially diverse, and so ludicrously enjoyable that you really should really do some soul searching if it doesn’t do something for you. Their debut album, Days Are Gone, avoids taking the path of least resistance, a path that can permanently hamper a buzz band’s outlook. They also have everything they need to be earmarked as a buzz band: musical ability, charisma, sex appeal, an appropriate swagger level, oodles of personality, and fistfuls of hooks.īut singer/guitarist Danielle, bassist Este, guitarist/keyboardist Alana Haim and drummer Dash Hutton are something more than just amalgamators. Their sound can find a kindred spirit in every decade since pop music has come into existence. This isn’t lost on California sister act Haim ( HIGH-yim). Combining existing sounds in different ways can be nearly as exciting as finding new ones.
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