CHECKER 760; AUGUST 1952

 

We said on the top side how there were some very positive signs to report on when it came to a new group being signed to a relatively new subsidiary of an up and coming record label.

For starters The Encores were rockers by trade, not be coercion, unlike so many short-lived acts trying their hand in this field in years gone by. Secondly they wrote their own material which ensured that the songs would at least be reflective of their own tastes, influences and outlooks.

Lastly Checker Records were intent on capitalizing on the rock market rather than thinking they could split the difference and pull in some pop listeners by lightening the sound.

Sure enough all of those things factor into this side as well, but while that’s good on the surface, what’s not so good is that The Encores weren’t quite good enough to make it pay off with something truly worthwhile.
 

Told Me That You Loved Me
To the group’s – and the label’s – credit, they fulfill one of the primary requests we have when it comes to properly utilizing the two sides of a single, namely giving us two songs that vary in tempo, mindset and style.

Whereas When I Look At You was a lovelorn ballad taken at a slow pace with tight harmonies, this one is much faster paced as befitting a song that suggests uncontrolled horniness with all of the associated lack of focus that manifests itself with intentionally sloppier harmonies.

But that’s where the compliments end, for while it’s certainly good to see the group can branch out, this is either not what they do best, or – to be a little more lenient with them since this is only the second side of their’s we’ve covered – this particular song isn’t something that best captures those qualities they want to present to us.

Either way, Young Girls, Young Girls is competent without being compelling, modestly acceptable but hardly notable.

The problem starts, as it often does, in the composition stage. As with the much better flip, this one was written by the group themselves and while the concept certainly fits their state of mind as a group of young male eager for companionship, that’s about as far as their mind can travel… or else that’s about as far as the blue laws of the day will allow their mind to travel when it comes to the content of a record.
 

Almost Lost My Mind
The hyper guitar that opens this sets the proper mood for such thoughts… overanxious but still trying to keep it in their pants as it were.

But when the lead comes along, a deeper more nasal voice than handled the main duties on the top half, he’s not quite as successful in masking his runaway desires, whining about how the Young Girls, Young Girls – apparently a lot of them – have been treating him.

Somehow though we’re not exactly sure what that means.

By the sound of his voice itself and his delivery, both of which seem to suggest he’s been recently crying, you think this would mean he’s been brutally rejected by every young lass he’s approached lately. But when he adds that they “make me feel so fine” and then claims one of them – if not more – confessed their love for him, that sort of throws us.

Which is it? Is his heart breaking or being filled with joy? Well it varies depending on where you are in the song and since there’s no plot point to turn the narrative around and explain it, we’ll have to dock them slightly for misleading us, or being unable to make up their mind.

The rest of the group are offering animated support, very lively and exuberant sounding, but also very unfocused. Their meager responsorial lines aren’t adding much detail to the skimpy story, nor making clear what the lead has already told us. Although the energy is good, the parts themselves sound pretty rudimentary… a bit sloppy even.

Even with two decent sax solos, which much like the singing sound intriguingly stuck between gears – more of a languid pace but played with urgency – the arrangement is haphazard at best with the drums standing out nicely at times but then all but disappearing at other times. As a result it never establishes a coherent instrumental track to support the voices which frankly could use some guardrails for their performance.

The final plea, asking some girl or another to love him, carries this confusion to the run-out grooves and so though we never doubt their enthusiasm for the job at hand with these Young Girls, Young Girls, they’ve somehow failed to make it clear just what that job is.

But then again, I suppose girls’ll do that to you if you’re not careful.
 
 
SPONTANEOUS LUNACY VERDICT:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
(Visit the Artist page of The Encores for the complete archive of their records reviewed to date)