Cassette Review // YAWNi "Clean Girls Club"

https://yawni.bandcamp.com/album/clean-girls-club-full-album

One of the things I've always believed makes for the best music is taking that classic sound and mixing it with a modern sound to create a future sound.   YAWNi does exactly this on "Clean Girls Club", as at times you can feel nostalgic while other times you can feel like you're about to be transported into the future of music.   This begins right away with the song "sorry", which is fast paced and reminds me of The Powerpuff Girls.  

As we go into the second song, "dollywood & lightening", there are these big distorted riffs which can take me back to the days of grunge but also these Janis Joplin-esque vocals which take me back to the time of classic rock.  It's Woodstock '69 and Woodstock '99 combined somehow.   A different type of distortion takes us into the third song, which is the titular track, and it has more of a rattle to it as well.  

During subsequent listens of this cassette, it is around the titular track that I realize this has those vibes of Stone Temple Pilots' "Dancing Days", but also there is a big overall Led Zeppelin vibe on this cassette.   The song "safe & sound" however has that dreamy math rock, almost skramz type of vibe and it hits that wood block, which is just such a combination of sounds that it's not quite like anything else you'll hear out there.

That clanking / ringing sound starts things right up on the flip side.   Big guitar notes lead way to what becomes almost like a surf / garage feel on "violent lou".    Almost whispered vocals come through and then it sounds live as we head back into those big, rambling chords.   This takes us into a song which is big and mathy, almost like Primus, and I do believe that Primus is name dropped in the title of the song.    

As this cassette comes to an end, "Please be kind, rewind" has that power ballad feel to it, somewhat like Buddy Holly, and it's refreshing to see an artist embrace that idea of going out with such a song as it feels like albums used to end with the ballad and don't as much any more.   Overall, YAWNi just has this way of feeling like all inclusive rock in the sense that if you've ever listened to music with a guitar in it then there is likely a part of you within this cassette and you should be listening here.