Leave Me Alone comes as the much-anticipated debut album from female garage rockers, Hinds. Since 2014, the Spanish four-piece have established themselves as the alternative girl band of the moment and every indie teen’s iconic dream. Having said that, Hinds make it perfectly clear through the nature of this record that they will never be anything but themselves. Smothered in reverb and boozy in places, Leave Me Alone is a 12-part tale of the many faces of love. Hinds show themselves to be full frontal but delicate, true to femininity but grunge to the core.
Recalling drunken memories and mistakes, ‘Fat Calmed Kiddos’ mingles between funky bass and lustful vocals, with Carlotta Cosials and Ana García Perrote admitting to themselves, and anyone who will listen, “I miss you in the night” and “You’re always on my mind”. Fan favourite ‘Castigadas En El Granero’ opens in classic Hinds style, succinct lo-fi guitar melodies, with a sharp snap into surf pop riffs that the likes of The Beach Boys would be proud of.
Sitting prettily halfway is a heavenly haze of guitars, fittingly titled ‘Solar Gap’, bringing the record down to a dream state and blending through into 2015 single ‘Chili Town’. This track showcases Hinds enjoying the glory of sass and sarcasm, “All your friends are sharks” but equally at their peak of lyrical honesty, “I am flirting with this guy, just to pretend I’m fine.” ‘Chili Town’ alone reflects the state of the album as a whole, a collection of emotional up and downs and indeed, contradictions.
Soaked in syrupy sweet vocals, the latter part of the album sheds light upon emotional delicacy, with ‘And I Will Send Your Flowers Back’ and ‘I’ll Be Your Man’ uniting as an ode to boyfriends past. But in true Hinds fashion, ‘Walking Home’ closes and equally highlights the album, in a preppy garage pop manner belting “You’re the one that I want” and “You’re the love of my life.”
What Hinds have managed to achieve here is a statement garage rock album with waves of Spanish flair, but what sets this record apart is the undeniable sense of honesty that comes lyrically. Through Leave Me Alone, Hinds have proved that they really are as real as it gets, with no gimmicks and nothing to hide behind. All of which comes to show that Hinds really are the (cooler) girls next door.
