I honestly don’t listen to many new records, which should be no surprise to anyone who reads my posts here or follows me on twitter. But each year, a few make it onto my short “worth buying” list, and one standout from 2017 that I haven’t written about here yet is “My Eye,” by Blaire Alise & The Bombshells, which came out earlier this year on Carlin Records. I’m excited to share it here, because I think you guys are really gonna dig it. I mean, it’s an album full of girl group harmonies, catchy hooks and hand-claps, how could you not like it?
Originally from Detroit, but currently living in New York, Blaire loves 60s girl groups, and it shows in her style. With her layered vocals, her songs take on a dreamy pop quality that is just gorgeous. Her voice is sweet and cheerful, but not in a shallow way. Blaire may be young, but there’s a depth and maturity in her voice and her lyrics that sets her apart from other songwriters.
If there’s a downside to listening to this album, it’s that the thing is loaded with earworms. Melodies abound on “My Eye,” and these songs *will* get stuck in your head. Listening to some of the songs on the record, with all the gentle harmonies on top of sleighbells and reverb galore, you almost feel like you’re listening to a Beach Boys record — if you replaced all the Wilson boys with young women.
Sadly, there are no physical copies of “My Eye” right now because record companies, ugh, but the good news is you can stream the record pretty much anywhere, including Spotify, Google Music, and iTunes. I suggest checking it out today, because there’s no better way to wrap up an iffy year than by discovering a new artist and one of the best, and most underappreciated, records of 2017.
