Album Details

• Artist: Guineafowl
• EP:
Hello Anxiety
• Label: Dew Process
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: carlito on 2011-03-25

Every so often, I come across an EP that I so wish was a full-length album.  Such is the case with Hello Anxiety, by Australia's own Guineafowl.  This is a debut effort that undoubtedly rivals the biggest indie acts of today. 

It opens up with an immediate attention-grabbing guitar riff with a simple backing kick drum on, "In Our Circles". And they don't have to be loud to grab your attention.  It's more of a quiet confidence that mysteriously demands we stop what we're doing and listen.  From what I interpret, this is a song about how we all have our inner circles, where we can escape and talk about virtually anything.  The energy picks up when the drums start pounding, about a minute and fifteen seconds in.  Definitely a nice opener.

It's hard for me to pinpoint a favorite out of the five songs.  This is a good problem.  Though it might be a tie between  the first track and "My Lonely Arms", which also has that quiet drawing-you-in beginning.  The song becomes incredibly catchy after the first verse. 

The six-member band managed to create a sound that reminds me of Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, U2, and I swear I heard some David Bowie in there.  This is glo-fi electro-rock at its best.  What I like is that they are fairly light with the electronic  elements, as they serve mainly as rhythm and backing components of each song.  There are no space-age sound fx blasting in your face.  In fact, I would be bold enough to call the overall style of the final product, beautiful and graceful.  Guineafowl will be competing with the best of them to be a fan favorite in America.  And I'm guessing some other countries as well.  

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