Judging by the faces and names found in the insert of Great For Terrible Times by the Chief Smiles, it’s probably safe to assume that there are quite a few people in the band. Or maybe it’s another collective? I dunno. I do know that there’s not a huge amount of information about them that can easily be obtained on the intraweb, and that Sarah and Alex Trimpe seem to be the core of the group.

Great For Terrible Times is the second full-length album by the band, and I like it a lot. It’s sort of got a mid-period Bettie Serveert meets The Oohlas meets Madder Rose thing going on. If you’re a fan of the nineties female-fronted/guitar-centric indie rock sound, you’re gonna flip out over this album. The most striking tracks on the first few listens have been “Prism” with it’s unstoppable pop hooks and mid-song course correction, as well as “The Dance Went On Too Long” - a slower track focusing on the way that Sarah’s uniquely confident voice meshes with her violin.

That’s not to say that the big guitar rock sound is all you’re gonna find on Great For Terrible Times, as there’s a nice harmony-laden track called “Lonely Resurrection” midway through that gets a bit of dynamics due to the prominent acoustic guitars, but really… once you get back to the wall of sound evident on tunes like “Memorandum”, you’re gonna be hard pressed to find anything remotely dislikable about this band or their new album.

The album isn’t overlong, but due to the fact that it never quite builds to a totally satisfying climax, one can’t help but be left wanting more. But that’s showbiz, baby: leave ‘em wanting more… and don’t deliver it. Good way to gauarantee that I’ll be keeping my eye on this band. Or collective. Whatever the Chief Smiles are, they making really fucking good pop records. Good enough for me.

Chief Smiles - Memorandum.mp3

Order Great For Terrible Times from the official Chief Smiles website, eh?