Thee AHs don't take themselves too seriously on Thee AHs Nation

Thee AHs Nation (Independent)

No one could ever accuse Thee AHs of taking themselves too seriously. Just head to their Myspace page and you’ll find an abundance of hot-pink, goofy caricatures, and a biography that reads “75% woman, 25% man and 100% AHmazing”.

It’s only fitting, then, that Thee AHs Nation is packed with cute and cuddly ditties that recall the classic twee-pop stylings often associated with Sarah Records and NME’s iconic C86 tape. The giddy “Potato Head” is typical of the band’s faux-vintage sound, as it brims with peppy drums and crackling, lightly flanged guitars. There’s even a faint hint of a British accent in singer Sarah Lowenbot’s voice as she sings lines like “Sometime we’re all going to get peeled.”

The silliness is tempered by the band’s self-deprecating streak. The standout “Too Young for You” contains the admission “I’m so depressed but I know how to act funny,” hinting at the malaise that hides just beneath the outfit’s tongue-in-cheek shtick. The hard-hitting “Onion in My Pocket” is similarly melancholy, with its refrain of “When I start to cry/Nobody asks me why.”

This lyrical fragility is complemented by the rough-hewn arrangements; the band never quite locks into a solid groove, and Lowenbot’s pitchy vocals would be sure to earn the judges’ scorn if she ever dared to audition for American Idol. Thankfully, the sloppiness is charming rather than grating, and conveys an honesty that compensates for the frequent wackiness.