WOMEN "Women" (Jaguwar) eight / ten

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A few years ago, Canadian bucko Owen Pallett had the good sense to produce his musical output under the nom de plume of Final Fantasy. His reasoning was that internet perverts like you and me wouldn't readily be able to Google him (or indeed oogle him for that matter). Instead, we'd be led down a merry path of computer games nerdom that would be almost as bad as the time some porno pop ups flashed on your screen when your boss was at your desk.

It has taken a bunch of fellow Canucks to trump that un-searchability - welcome folks to Women, the band. Some of the lo-fi record-ing techniques favoured by them and producer Chad Vangaalen may suggest that they thrive on such anonymity.

Yet, there is nothing run of the mill about their eponymous debut. A mish-mash of post-punk and art-rock, it retains a playful demeanour throughout, something often lacking from those two genres; take the warm glockenspiels and drum thumping of "Black Rice", for instance.

Elsewhere, they veer from tape hiss-laden industrial-meets-ambient with the likes of "Lawncare" and "Woodbine" to the psychedelic pop of "Group Transport Hall" - a track that could have come from somewhere in the Elephant 6 cannon.

Women twists and turns at every possible juncture, never allowing the listener to truly settle. Four of the ten tracks on offer here clock in at under two minutes, with a few them stopping so suddenly, you'd reckon your CD player or turntable had a glitch.

However, it is anything but a haphazard debut outing, and in album centrepiece "Shaking Hand", similar to Deerhunter or a more jittery Sonic Youth, they show they've got the balls that their moniker may not suggest. Perhaps just for this a while, internet anonymity is a good thing for those who get to cherish these Women.

Ciaran Ryan
www.myspace.com/womenmusic

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