Hinds
Leave Me Alone
Release Date: Jan 8, 2016
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Mom & Pop Music
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Album Review: Leave Me Alone by Hinds
Great, Based on 22 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
In the famous words of Kanye West, Hinds "cook up summer in the winter" on their first full-length release, Leave Me Alone. The Spanish garage rockers roll out an album of fuzzy, beer-soaked jams chock full of proto-punk goodness. Reverb-laden guitars fill the record, drenching Hinds pop riffs in a spooky, surf rock texture. The laidback nature of Hinds' double-vocals throughout the record add to the playful, punky nature of the record, with vocalists singing together, back and forth and sometimes over top of one another."Bamboo" is one of the grooviest tracks on the record, starting with a quiet, scratchy bass riff and showcasing the fun you can have with two vocalists more than any other track on Leave Me Alone.
Based on rating 4/5
What a year Hinds had. 2015 saw the Madrid garage-rockers explode onto the international scene, scooping up fancy festival slots with tracks like Bamboo, and proving themselves so ridiculously likeable that they baggsied spots on all the 'ones to watch for next year' listicles. Those listicles are spot on, too, for the New Year’s bells herald the arrival of their first LP, Leave Me Alone – and it's the peppiest, jauntiest, most charismatic debut you’ll likely find in the next 12 months.
Based on rating 8/10
It’s been a good 18 months since Madrid-based four-piece Hinds (or a two-piece named Deers as they were in June 2014) dropped a bubbly ramshackle of an EP imaginatively titled ‘Demo’, where their insatiably catchy, sun-drenched surf was a smile that you simply had to return. Since then, they’ve dropped a handful of singles, toured extensively and even dropped a Greatest Hits EP, delectably titled ‘The Very Best of Hinds So Far’. There’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard of Hinds by now, and the release of their debut LP will make for a very happy New Year for those who’ve succumbed to the band’s delightful charm.
Based on rating 8/10
Since they burst onto the scene a few years ago, Madrid’s Hinds have picked up ample praise, been forced to change their name (a development the band took with commendable grace) and toured a lot, both in Europe and overseas, all on the basis of just a few (pretty raw) singles. Inspired equal parts by the likes of Ty Segall, the Strokes and antecedents like the Velvet Underground, the group originated as a covers act comprising best friends Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote before adding Ade Martín and Amber Grimbergen on bass and drums, respectively. It isn’t hard to understand why certain quarters of the music press have taken them to heart: the attitude stamped all over their releases to date is rough yet joyful, defiant and infectious.
Based on rating 8/10
Head here to submit your own review of this album. Chances are, you've already heard of Hinds. The Spanish quartet have been working tirelessly, touring non-stop and releasing new songs on a regular basis. And today (January 8th), Hinds have finally dropped their debut album, Leave Me Alone.. Leave ….
Based on rating 4/5
Few things could dampen the spirit in camp Hinds. When the Madrid four-piece had to change their name from Deers, instead of kicking up a fuss they embraced their new moniker and continued on their way. And when they get to hang out with their garage rock heroes The Black Lips and Mac DeMarco, the enthusiasm levels go up tenfold. Debut full-length ‘Leave Me Alone’ is interesting, then, in how it presents a new case for Hinds.
Based on rating 4/5
Of course, anyone can be ramshackle, the word most often attributed to this Madrid four-piece. Anyone can pay scant attention to tuning their guitar, strum it at the slacker rhythm of their choosing and allow anyone in their band to have a bash at vocals, seemingly as and when they fancy it. But 99% of the time, they will be utterly unlistenable. Hinds are great because of two crucial factors.
Based on rating 4/5
Spanish indiepoppers Hinds have already found a larger audience for their music than would seem likely from its boisterous, lo-fi clatter. Only operating as a full band since 2014, last year was a busy one for the quartet – starting with a name change, from Deers (boring Canadians The Dears threatened to sue), and continuing with a world tour and plentiful festival appearances. None of which did much to polish up the sound of debut album ‘Leave Me Alone’, whose 12 songs dance among the murky territory between garage rock, old-skool Brit-indie and classic girl group styles.Hinds’ stated influences are relatively modern, the likes of Ty Segall and Mac DeMarco notable among them, but listeners can be forgiven for reaching back further.
Based on rating 7.6/10
If frolicking on a warm beach in golden light with your best friends had a musical equivalent, it would have to be the debut album from Hinds. Though the Spanish quartet is said to be at the forefront of a growing indie scene in Madrid—a city much better known for many other things—Hinds could have just as easily grown up in a garage a few blocks from the ocean somewhere in southern California. Co-fronted by Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials—who started the band as a duo called Deers before recruiting Ade Martin and Amber Grimbergen and, for legal reasons, changing their name—Hinds play shaggy rock ’n’ roll with a casual, shambling feel.
Based on rating 7.5/10
The Madrid-based quartet Hinds makes fuzzy garage pop that seems as intrinsically linked to the warmth and sunshine of their home as California-infused idleness is to many Burger Records bands. They began as a duo called Deers after Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote met back in 2011. Inspired by bands like the Black Lips, Mac DeMarco, and the Strokes, the pair wrote woozy pop tracks about love, partying, and the complicated problems that occur when mixing the two.
Based on rating 7/10
You've probably heard Hinds' brand of fuzzy garage pop a thousand times before. The Madrid-dwelling quartet's ramshackle, lush melodies hark back to historic indie merchants such as The Shop Assistants and The Sonics, while generating a shrill ambiance associated with more modern tykes like Wavves or Psychedelic Horseshit. Whatever they are and whoever they sound like, Hinds really are nothing new.
Based on rating 3.5
If there’s one word that people tend to use to describe Hinds, it’s ‘fun’. Ever since they started to make a name for themselves back in 2014 with some charmingly lo-fi demos and a string of joyfully chaotic gigs, everything that the Madrid quartet have done seems to have been shot through with a glorious sense of pure enjoyment. Even when they were legally forced to change their name from Deers (following objections from the Canadian band The Dears), they did so with a charmingly self-effacing hand-written note proclaiming “Let’s take this with a smile”.
Based on rating 7/10
“Nuestras mierdas, nuestras reglas” is Spanish quartet Hinds’ motto. It means “Our shit, our rules”. Hinds’ way or the highway honey. It suits them. Their debut Leave Me Alone is rowdy, rambunctious, ragged and rough around the edges but it’s also whipsmart, straight-talking and ….
Based on rating B-
The sheer volume of lo-fi garage rock bands in 2016 is overwhelming. Between the monolithic Burger Records catalog and grimy split-singles filling up record store bins, the genre is approaching over-saturation. To generate excitement in the scene, a band has to find a new way to change the formula. While Hinds haven’t reinvented the genre on their debut, Leave Me Alone, they’ve found a way to make it feel fresh again.
Based on rating 3/5
"I’ll make it simple," the four women of Hinds sing on their debut LP. The music isn’t always so simple as they claim, though: This great garage-rock crew from Madrid folds decades of naïf-rock history into its craftily shambling tunes – from riff-scraping contemporaries like Ty Segall to early-1990s International Pop Underground stars like the Vaselines and Thee Headcoats, right on back to "Wild Thing." The lyrics offer their own spin on tough-talking rock & roll poetry: "I need you to be around my legs and stop complaining about the rain," they demand on "Bamboo," while the guitars bring the sunshine. .
Based on rating 6/10
After gaining international attention with a pair of playfully noisy singles under the name Deers, the Spanish garage pop combo now known as Hinds deliver their full-length debut. Guitarists Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote formed the band as a duo back in 2011, though the fruits of their labors wouldn't be heard until the 2014 release of Demo, a two-song single that mixed scuzzy Burger Records-style lo-fi with a lackadaisical Mac DeMarco-inspired spirit. When U.K.
Based on rating 3/5
What the debut album from all-female Spanish quartet Hinds – known as Deers until a year ago – might lack in sophistication is more than made up for with charm. Their modus operandi is shambling, unhurried garage rock projected through a lo-fi filter and topped with ragged harmonising. In the age of Auto-Tune, there’s a freshness to this ramshackle approach, even as the likes of Fat Calmed Kiddos and San Diego threaten to collapse in on themselves.
Based on rating 6/10
It’s hard not to like Hinds. The Madrid-based ascendants from Spain’s robust DIY rock scene don’t even bother with pleasantries before offering to take you dancing over the first rambling notes of their debut LP, Leave Me Alone. They’re just like us, fangirling over personalized autographs from the Strokes; and it’s so easy to get swept up in the foursome’s live performances that fans often ask to be part of the band.
Opinion: Very Good
A rare instance in which the LP art looks exactly as the album sounds: a low-quality snapshot, too bright flash, and the band unkempt and drinking beer. The debut from Madrid's Hinds could easily fit into the young, unpolished ilk filling up the sprawling roster of L.A.'s Burger Records. The four women deliver "San Diego" heads a-bopping, the tambourine-laden, bratty sing-song with a chugging drumbeat proving the album's biggest earwig along with the frustrated "Warts." Addictive little hooks, "I'll Be Your Man" plies a sweet, slowing love song.
Opinion: Average
The charm of Madrid garage rockers Hinds is they have the “hey, we can do this” enthusiasm of a band that would have played T.T. the Bear’s Place on a Tuesday night; the problem is they sound like a band that would have played T.T.’s on a Tuesday night. The slash-and-pop aesthetic of debut LP “Leave Me Alone” reveals a young group taking baby steps, and the spirit-over-skill approach only carries it so far.
Opinion: Excellent
It seems as if Macklemore anticipated the coming of his second album more than hip-hop fans. This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, judging by the title, is an incredibly poignant piece on the artist and the issues his success has caused among various communities. Or, I should say, that’s what Macklemore wanted it to be. The final result is one that aspires to achieve more than it actually does.
Opinion: Excellent
Hinds are not too concerned with being perfect. Seeing the foursome from Madrid’s infectious chemistry on stage as they rocket through spiky ‘60s pop riffs and laid-back sun drenched rhythms, you can see that this is a band more concerned with making sure everyone’s having a great time. Their music has always been a reflection of this, from their bubbly two-track EP Demo right through to this, their debut album Leave Me Alone.
'Leave Me Alone'
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