On their self-titled debut,
the Willowz have mastered the art of sounding impassioned and totally disaffected at the same time. It's true that the Anaheim, CA, trio's garage punk calls to mind more established bands in that style, most notably
the White Stripes; indeed,
The Willowz has the same kind of stripped-down sound and explosive enthusiasm that made
the Stripes' early albums so striking, but
the Willowz are a far less arty band than the duo from Detroit. On their own terms, though,
the Willowz are a fun mix of attitude and energy, two traits that describe lead
Willow Richie James March. He is an impressive garage punk vocalist, with an assertive, nasally rasp that sounds instantly familiar but is still difficult to pin down. Bassist/backup singer Jessica Reynoza is the yin to March's yang, adding some depth and softness to
the Willowz's sound with her harmonies. The vocal interplay between her and March works particularly well on "Meet Your Demise," which is heightened by the fun phonetic play in phrases like "meet your demise" and "mission to Mars" and on the inspired nonsense of "Get Down." Songs such as "Keep on Looking" and "Not You" make the most of March's appealingly cheap guitar tone and also underscore the influence of '80s Cali punk on their sound, while the sweetly shambling ballad "I Wonder" shows that
the Willowz have a wider range than just the thrashy garage punk that they usually play. A prime example of this is "Something," the brash, funny song that was also featured in Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; as creatively used as it was in the film, it makes more sense in the context of this album than it did on the soundtrack. Still in their late teens when they recorded this album,
the Willowz's youth and enthusiasm go a long way toward making their debut a fun rediscovery of styles that are, in some cases, more than twice as old as the bandmembers themselves. ~ Heather Phares