Songs of 2019 #8

Powpig - Mayday

One among other all-female rock bands, Powpig come from Limerick in Ireland, and it is astonishing they are barely out of school.

Despite their young age, they demonstrate great aptitude at using some of the canons of pop music in original and inventive ways. And, together with this aptitude, they also display an 'in your face' attitude: they don't seem to care what you and I may think of them, they will keep doing their own thing and have fun while doing it.

Their sound and attitude reminds me of another all-female band, the Slits, but this might be a lazy and ungenerous comparison: Powpig may have many influences, but they seem intent in creating their own niche.

I saw Powpig play live this year: they supported Band Girl and opened their gigs in Dublin this November. On stage they displayed great competence and mastery: the drummer is particularly good, while all the other members swapped instruments from song to song, showing a further interesting side to the band.

Mayday is a particularly good song, with  jangling guitars, and a nice change of tempo by the end of  the song. Like many good pop songs, it feels as if it was just coming naturally on the spot, and all the sophistication that keeps it flowing is hidden from view. In mastering the art of making something sophisticated and clever sound simple and easy, Powpig seems to follow on the path of other great pop-groups like Orange Juice and Aztec Camera.

They have not yet released a full album, although some of the songs they played in Dublin indicate they are producing solid songs for further outputs.

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