Fever Kids :: "Play Hard"

Sparse and warm, Athens' Fever Kids craft a brand of pop that inspires comparisons to a considerably more gendered version of the xx. Replacing the androgyny of the dark-shirted, downcast kids from London with firm femininity, Fever Kids build a sultry and winsome melody on "Play Hard", a quietly angular backdrop and a female vocal built like a wrecking ball. The lyrical references are oblique, like the arrangement, implying a bit of pursuit, including but not limited to some particularly sordid asides and maybe the single grimiest reference to a meeting in the bathroom since the Strokes. "Play Hard", unlike these reckless addendums, sounds painfully restrained, a whisper for when you feel like screaming.