Ash Gray And The Girls
Album: Born In The Summer
Label: LuvRock
Tracks: 11
Website: http://ashgrayandthegirls.com

New-York-based singer-songwriter Ash Gray really was, it transpires, born in the summer of love, so he could be forgiven for having that era's music well and truly embedded in his genes. His own creations bear this out, and here, with his group having survived several lineup changes since his 2010 debut EP, he delivers 11 tracks (all but one self-penned) that intersperse recordings from his latest - and most stripped-down - lineup (which now features just two "girls" in the form of signature harmony vocalists Nina Murphy and Sarah Wise) with a small handful of cuts recorded when an earlier lineup was in place. This mix generates a distinct unevenness of quality for the whole album, which loses some of its intended unity in the process, although this criticism turns out not to be as serious as it sounds.

After Purple And Gold, a stunning slice of summery sitar-edged psych-pop with a searing guitar solo, the album trips through some slightly awkward paisley-pop with edgy Beefheartian riffs (I Know You), and a number of bouncy adventures where the aforementioned girl harmonies don't always contribute as meaningfully as they might, on occasions sounding ever so slightly embarrassed - but, curiously, I soon rather warmed to them, especially on tracks such as Cecil. Glancing at the personnel credits, it's not always easy to discern the exact complement of voices used on some of the tracks, and there's a feeling that Ash is still not fully exploring the possibilities of vocal harmony even in his current lineup.

However, the disc's high points include the strong, punchy early-Who-style freak-beat of Call It A Day Renee, and that searing guitar cuts through again on the consciously referential title track. Inevitably there are some weak links - the insubstantial chugalong numbers Apple Eye and Goodbye and the rather flat mid-tempo ballad The Only Woman On Earth, not to mention a somewhat buskerish cover of the Hollies' hit Bus Stop - but the first two-thirds of the CD is altogether closer to the bone, and upbeat spirit, of those glory days.

In other words, it's all authentically, knowingly retro, and displays Ash Gray's commitment to the idiom and concept of that summer in which he was born; but for next time I'd like to hear a more consistent set from him and his Girls

David Kidman