The Galway, Ireland trio the Debutantes surfaced in the autumn of 2014 with a limited five-song cassette EP, and earlier this year four-fifths of its contents found release in the US through Emotional Response of Flagstaff, AZ. The label pressed “Adams Apples” and “Kids” to 7-inch vinyl with two additional tunes on the accompanying download, and folks into the intersection of indie pop, shoegaze, and dream pop are the prime audience for the record. It comes in a choice of three different colors with a free Emotional Response 45rpm “big hole” adapter.
Paula Cullen plays bass and sings in the Debutantes and Sarah Grimes beats the skins. Some will recognize the pair as members of September Girls, a Dublin quintet who’ve drawn comparisons to the Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls; that’s a whole lot of youthfully feminine similarity, and to verify the claims one need only listen to Cursing the Sea, their 2013 full-length debut for Fortuna Pop!
The LP didn’t radically alter noise/dream pop history, but it did competently explore the confines of the style; it led to a sleeker, heavier outing in last year’s “Veneer” EP, its four songs reinforcing September Girl’s strengths at the short-form. The scenario is further emphasized by the handful of 7-inch platters and cassette singles in their discography.
A few examples: the sturdy guitar focused indie pop of “Green Eyed” and the tangibly ‘60s keyboard-tinged proposition of its flip “Danny Wood,” the girl group/garage merger “Wanting More” getting backed with the catchy dream pop of “Hells Bells” and the noisier instrumental chaser “Man Chats,” the edginess of Cursing the Sea highlight “Talking” and the lo-fi melodiousness of its b side “Some for Me,” and the grittier stomp of “Heartbeats” (also from the LP) and the slow burn of its opposite number “Wasted.”
For their productivity in the Debutantes, Cullen and Grimes have thus far retained the quick lean benefits offered by 45s and EPs. And the unit connects as more than a mere side-project, instead registering as one aspect in a substantial fount of creativity (the Debutantes in fact predate September Girls) as Grimes joins members of Girls Names, Sea Pinks, and Logikparty in Cruising, an act named after William Friedkin’s controversial filmic excursion into gay panic from 1980.
Of the pair of Cruising tracks having made this writer’s acquaintance, “You Made Me Do That” is defined by rawness, rock pulse, and low-mixed vocals while “Safe Corridor’ is cleaner and almost B-52s-ish; both are effective teasers for the band’s six-song 12-inch scheduled to appear August 14 through the Tough Love imprint.
But enough digression; Leon Butler wields a shorter bio and rounds out the Debs on guitar and vocals. Their emergence received a self-titled edition of 100 tapes in October ’14 by Scottish label Soft Power. It’s sold out, but the vinyl single arriving this past March on Emotional Response, the endeavor of married musicians-parents-cattle ranchers-pet owners Jen Turrell and Stewart Anderson, is still very much available.
And it presents a distinct affair. For starters, “Adams Apples” finds the knobs turned way up, the burn of controlled distortion enveloping the song’s melodic core to considerably shoegazey effect. So it’s immediately clear Butler’s not just along for the ride, and not only through the rough axe-treatment; his lead voice blends well with Cullen’s whoa-whoas and do-do-dos while getting partially submerged by ripples of amp scorch and the attractive simplicity of Grimes’ work behind the kit.
It delivers in a concise span, only breaking two minutes by a short margin, and packs a wallop that’s unique throughout the package’s entirety. This will perhaps disappoint those who prefer to bask in the caustic textures of shoegaze, though upon deeper inspection the Debutantes’ subsequent exploration of poppier environments is a positive.
Certainly less raucous, “Kids” is a nugget of catchiness promoting range, especially with Butler handling the vocal duties. More common these days on ‘60s-derived stuff inhabiting the dream/noise pop crossroads, a designation to which “Kids” adheres, though not blatantly so, are femme lead vox. Cullen does contribute able backing, but it’s the emotive, understandably Brit resonance of Butler’s singing that places the tune in the qualitative ballpark of comparable material from the heyday of ‘80s indie pop.
Plus, the muffled fireworks at the end are a cool touch. Taken together, “Adams Apples” and “Kids” comprise a worthy slab of wax, one nicely enhanced by the two added selections from the Soft Power release. “Gentlemans Wash” is the first, matching a fairly standard indie pop structure with Butler’s voice, airy yet again low in the mix, and a surprisingly infectious chorus.
The value of Cullen’s continued harmonizing is no shock; interestingly, her bass is more inherently felt than explicitly heard, just one element in an ensemble approach driven home by Grimes establishing a rhythm and then single-mindedly sticking to it. That means no attempts at gussying it up and therefore weakening the whole.
Some might deride them as self-consciously rudimentary, but to these ears the Debutantes are a fine illustration of a Ramonesian lesson in actual operation. Overall the trio has yet to cross over into the territory of true greatness, but they are lingering around the border, and the situation affords them room for progress without being too grueling a task. “X & Y” underscores the breadth, combining a soft-into-loud pop-rock dynamic and guy-gal vocal teamwork to maximum result, Cullen sounding her sweetest even after the volume kicks in.
For those curious about the original cassette/digital EP’s extra track “Burn the Merchandise,” Emotional Response has included it on the recent Nail House Party compilation LP, featuring 20 cuts from as many outfits and loaded with label co-honcho Stewart Anderson’s input via the groups Hard Left, The How, Victorian Slang, Lögnhalsmottagningen, The Safe Distance, Rooibus Orbison (with his wife and ex-Eggs/Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers main guy Rob Christiansen), and Tangible Excitement! It also contains non-Stew entries by the Cannanes, the Wanda Junes, the Bad Daddies, and American Culture.
The briefest of their initial spate of tunes, “Burn the Merchandise” is tidy hunk of strum and harmony wafting neo-‘60s vibes. It would’ve fit right in on the 45’s download, but I think the decision to excise it from the program raises the cumulative power of the rest; another smart maneuver is placing the tape’s finale on the plug side of the 7-inch.
Given two-thirds of the Debutantes are quite busy in other bands, it’s reasonable to surmise a follow-up to this batch of songs may never arise. If so, it’s a bummer, for “Adams Apples” and “Kids” top a promising first effort.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B+
