Is there a southern rock movement going on in Arizona? Okay… maybe southern rock is a stretch to say. Is there a country-tinged pop movement going on in Arizona? That seems a little more accurate. First The Maine really established that sound with their last record “Black and White” and then they changed it with their latest album “Pioneer.” Now we’ve got My Girl Friday, another band out of Arizona playing a similar style of music on their latest EP American Kids
This seven song EP is fantastically written and performed by these kids. Out of seven of these songs, five of them are wonderful and two of them are just good. “Rolling Stone”, “American Kids”, and “Down by the Water” are the main highlights here and rightfully so. They’re thoughtfully written songs with influences spanning across multiple genres. The production is as wonderful as the songs are here too.
If there is a main criticism of this album is the over-indulgence in steel guitar. I’ll be honest and confess that’s more of a personal preference more than anything else, I can’t stand the sound of the steel guitar. They might only use it on two songs, but they probably implemented it more than they needed to. The other main thing that this EP doesn’t do as well as it should… this band is good enough to cross multiple genres, but they needed to mix things up genre wise a little bit more on this EP. To go along with this country-tinged pop I would have liked to have heard one or two more traditional pop songs or something where the electric guitar was cranked up just a touch more.
My Girl Friday’s American Kids is a terrific listen. There are some hits on this EP but there’s a couple of misses too. This band will continue to find their sound over the next year. The fact that you should be paying attention while they do it says something.