On their third album, The Prettiest Curse, Spanish quartet Hinds decide to try something a little different. With producer Jenn Decilveos help, the band leave behind the ramshackle garage pop of their first two releases in favor of a slicker, bigger, and more emphatically poppy sound. The rhythm section has more thump and power, the guitars are less jagged, and there is more care overall put into the arrangements, which range from the bursting-with-sound power pop of Good Bad Times to the sparse acoustic balladry of Come Back and Love Me <3. Its a big change for the group, the kind of sonic shift that often leads to disaster when the increase in fidelity chokes the life out of the music. Luckily, thats not the case here. The care put into the sound of the record is matched by the bands more expressive songwriting and expanding musical skills. It sounds like they were at just the right point in their development to make a leap, and they turn it into a joyous, fist-pumping long jump. Where a track like Burn might have been a rambling, loose-limbed jaunt before, with their new approach its a tightly wound rocker that blasts out of the speakers like a jolt of electricity. The mid-tempo tracks benefit from the sonic punch too; while a song like Take Me Back might have meandered too much in the past, now it sticks the landing like a medal-winning gymnast and has some real emotional impact. The one thing that hasnt changed here is the impressively unhinged vocal style both Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote employ. They come across even more confident than before and the way the vocals are mixed at times makes them sound like a hurricane of zealous enthusiasm. Their performances push the record over the top in glorious fashion, whether its on the rollicking empowerment anthem Riding Solo or the strutting kiss-off Waiting for You, where they dial up some classic Shangri-Las-style attitude. Overall, the combo of the bands inspired playing, the note-perfect production, the memorably fun songs, and the vitality of their voices helps make The Prettiest Curse their best record yet. It might not be simple and true garage rock anymore, but Hinds show they are able to grow up a little without losing any of the qualities that made them special. ~ Tim Sendra

Rovi