The Awkward Stage: "The Sun Goes Down On Girlsville"

Vancouver has been on my radar since They Might Be Giants covered Cub's "New York City" (still the best song about New York ever written by an three-piece girl band from British Columbia) in 1996. Seriously, watch it. Girls: 3. City Song Is About: 1. Boat: Check. Video Budget: 45 dollars (Canadian). Results: Outstanding.



That brings us up to about now and The Awkward Stage's "The Sun Goes Down In Girlsville." They're also from Vancouver and on the same label, Mint Records. Yes. That's the segue. It's a reach and I understand that. Sonically, it will remind you of something Grand Archives would have written if Grand Archives allowed stadium guitar-riffs to sneak in the backdoor of a dinner party they were throwing for Sub Pop's outstanding publicity staff.

This song is unexpectedly weighty and unexpectedly good. And it all turns in the last half. The drums pound down the home stretch, behind some ludicrous fluttering strings and "woohoo" vocals. What begins as a guitar-picking meditation on regret, shifts out of reverse and into drive. And then it hits the gas, slightly at first, before stomping into the danger area for the final 30-seconds. If it held together any less tightly, it would be terrible. But this is meticulously crafted. Like a three-piece girl band from British Columbia. And the best thing about New York City is still you and me.

Listen :: The Awkward Stage - "The Sun Goes Down On Girlsville"