Night School is a band from Oakland formed by three girls – Alexandra Morta, Baylie Jiminez snd Cheyanne Avant. They have been active since 2013 (with two singles and one EP) and now they have released their debut album Blush under Graveface Records.
Girls describe their sound as doo-wop garage rock. In translation, it is an intersection of catchy pop melodies, garage rock and dreamy, melancholic vocal. Although they are oriented towards garage rock, they are far from accomplished groups such as Le Butcherettes and The Black Belles, which serve a more aggressive attitude. Night School is a garage rock in pop guise, which is not apriori a bad thing. Still, there is something missing. Band is on the lower level than classic rock bands. Girls mention The Shirelles, The Ronettes and Cocteau Twins as their main influences, which makes sense, since they are covering the spectrum from pop to dream pop.
In essence, Blush is a sleepy, summer album, made for chill beach time. There are ten songs; some are more slothful than others. Overall, it is a solid collection. Theme is basic, if not shallow. Don’t forget it’s all about morose ballades and tunes that get easily stuck in your head. My favorites are Last Disaster and Casanova, mostly because the combination of pop and garage rock works the best here.
Airplanes sounds almost like an anthem, while Hypnotized summarizes the fundament of the record. It is halfway between joy and threnody. The biggest advantage of Night School is the subtle vocal that manages to exert the message of the album, which is indulging in hedonism no matter what is going on in your life.
While the girls were a bit more hardcore on their EP, they have decided to slow down with their debut. In fact, they are just another pop band that needs to prove that they are more. To be called a garage band, it takes more than just decision.
