Mermaidens
Perfect Body

A couple of months ago, the legendary Flying Nun Records released the second LP by Mermaidens, a trio from Wellington, New Zealand, that offers a revisitation of the label's typical sound and new-wave in a nearly 'sacred' version with the performances of the vocalist.

The album is titled 'Perfect Body' and, to 'strike while the iron is hot,' it follows just a year after their debut record, 'Undergrowth,' also released by the same label and recorded like this last one by James Goldsmith at Blue Barn Studios (Wellington, New Zealand).

Considered by critics to be the most interesting novelty on the New Zealand alternative scene, Lily West, Gussie Larkin, and Abe Hollingsworth aka Mermaidens, actually offer a sound that isn't particularly innovative, but by building on solid foundations manages to be convincing even while repeating the same determined patterns.

The songs on the album are based on constructions of typically minimal wave arpeggios rich in reverb and echo, clanging and maddening noise from electric guitars, and a powerful and always dominant rhythm section.

The atmospheres proposed by the record are somehow captivating, almost glamorous and aligned in this sense with the concept proposed by the album's title and then developed from song to song. Above all, Gussie Larkin's voice probably stands out, capable of providing different performances depending on the situation, proving to be a valid and versatile interpreter and probably the true strength of the trio. So much so that in some cases the sound of the songs probably relies exclusively on this characteristic, such as in the ballads 'Mind Slow' or the evocative and acoustic 'Smothering Possession.'

But there's more: it is indeed Gussie Larkin's interpretation rather than the arrangements that determines the characteristics of each individual track. In 'Perfect Body,' the title track, the sexy and enchanting singing evokes certain Doors reminiscences in a context of cold and minimal characteristics. 'Sunstone' is the most driven track of the album where Gussie Larkin's voice rises above standard noise constructions and vaporized guitar sounds.

Apparently more complex are 'Lizard,' 'Satsuma,' 'Give It Up,' and the concluding 'Fade,' in which it is inevitable to think of Siouxsie Sioux, clearly one of the group's main references; just as some constructions might possibly remind one of typically Radiohead moments.

Balancing between simpler shoegaze and what they call dreampop, indie and alternative proposals that hark back to the nineties, and dark and visionary atmospheres, the Mermaidens somehow try to fit into the large cauldron of neo-psychedelic music, but the sensation is that their inclinations are different and more inclined to push towards indie pop sensations that at best can be tinged with the psychedelia typical of Charalambides by Tom and Christina Carter.