Music Reviews

Album Review: West Indian Girl – ‘4th & Wall’

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 12, 2007, 13:33 GMT

West Indian Girl is a rock band from Los Angeles, California consisting of Robert James (guitar, vocals), Mariqueen Maandig (vocals), Francis Ten (bass), Nathan Van Hala (keyboard), Mark Lewis (drums), and Amy White (keyboard, vocals).  ‘4th & Wall’ is their second album. 

Supposedly their name comes from a type of acid that was popular in the 1960s.  Some of the songs sound like they come from that era, but I cannot judge if they’re good or bad trips not having made a “trip” myself.  You may feel like you’ve dropped a tab or two though. 

“To Die in L.A.” has the lyric “looking outside of yourself” and could very well be about doing so while on a trip.  “Blue Wave” almost sounds like a tribute to those ‘60s surfing movies with Frankie and Annette, but without the beach music (bingo!) but a rock edge.

“Solar Eyes” has a club beat to it and you may well have be-bopped around to it if you frequent them.  They end the album on a high note with the great, up tempo “Get Up” which will make you want to do just that (even if the track starts off rather quietly). 

I liked the style and sound of the band and didn’t have a bad trip at all.