The new record from Asbury Park's Little Hag is a bit all over the place, and I think that's the point. Avery Mandeville, the main person here, uses the vehicle to deliver punk-pop and techno-pop with wit and verve. The new record, Now That's What I Call Little Hag is a buffet of styles, and it's fairly enjoyable because of that.
On "Hell Yes", there's a sort of alt-rock-thing happening, but the more supple "The Suburbs", a real highlight here, finds Avery adopting an approach that briefly suggests Madonna in the Nineties. It works actually. Elsewhere, "You Blew It" sounds like a great, lost Pink single, even as the insistent and catchy "Oops" leans into electro-pop pretty well. Heck, there's even an absolutely beautiful bit of torch song here in "King Cake", a real gem.
Now That's What I Call Little Hag isn't a long record, and it lobs a bunch of ideas at a listener. What I liked about this record is that there's actual enthusiasm here about these forms. It's not entirely successful for me on every single song, but I dig what's going on here, and I really appreciate the energy being put into this material. There are plenty of indivudal tracks here which I'd like to hear rocking out on Sirius XMU, you know?
Now That's What I Call Little Hag by Little Hag is out now via Bar/None Records.
[Photo: Kelsey Ayres]