By Farah BarakatWhat sets Lansing, MI's Cheap Girls apart as a band is their ability to channel 1994. The power pop/rock trio fuse their sound with homages to catchy, melodically charged '90s rock in their Rise debut, and third full-length release, Giant Orange. Influenced by the likes of the Lemonheads, Superchunk and the Replacements, Cheap Girls continue in the vein of the energetic style they've had for years. With their newest effort, they enlisted the help of producer Tom Gabel (Against Me!), which yielded an album that's more polished, less rough-around-the-edges and more towards a power pop sound than prior rock releases (2009's My Roaring 20's). The focal point remains Ian Graham's lower pitched vocals and poignant, hearty lyrics overtop traditional rock guitar/drum rhythms and their affinity for bold hooks. A lack of variation in tempos and tones gives a sense of redundancy, yet the pace of the album, with all of its gosh-darn hooks, carries it through to the end. With first single "Ruby" in broad circulation for months and a March tour with the Menzingers on the way, Cheap Girls continue to progress musically while nodding nostalgically in the direction of good old-fashioned alternative rock. (Rise)
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