West Indian Girl

Making absolutely no attempt to hide what must be one of their biggest influences, West Indian Girl took their name from a strain of designer LSD developed by infamous chemist Bear Owsley in the ’60s. And in the two years duo Robert James and Francis Ten have been together, they admit that they have utilised the benefits of every type of drug to record their debut album. West Indian Girl have had one of their songs ("What Are You Afraid Of”) used in a cell phone commercial in the U.S., and their self-titled album might be enjoyed best in short, commercial-length bursts because many of the songs meander along in a nondescript fashion before hitting a more memorable chorus. Still, the one thing that they succeed in doing well is creating music that seems to diffuse through a druggy haze, thanks to their dreamy pseudo-psychedelic sound that wouldn’t have been out of place back in days of the Madchester. But what sounded good to them when they were high isn’t necessarily that interesting to everyone else. Sometimes the drugs really don’t work.