Spencer McGillicutty isn't a solo artist or band member, but a four-piece indie pop group, aided by a cast of thousands (ok, eighteen or so) who clearly have an appreciation of sixties vintage sounds and The Beach Boys. The 'vintage' theme extends to the artwork, complete with black and white photographs of the band members and the track listing split into 'Side One' and 'Side Two', and the titles, which include 'Give Me a Try,' 'Hide and Seek,' 'It's Easy to Fall in Love' and 'Hanging Around With Jane.' Such details are well observed, and it really could be a release from another era.
The twelve tracks on 'Games' are tales of lost loves, cruel boys (and occasionally girls) who break hearts and cheat and / or refuse to answer the telephone. Indeed, it's not only Spencer McGillicutty who plays Games, as the album's cover suggests (helpfully illustrating the point with a picture of a pile of vintage board games including Go For broke, Bingo and, er, Spin the Bottle on the CD cover), but the majority of the characters in the songs.
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Our singers - Nicole and Brittany - may be pretty peeved by the way they're treated by these heartless scumbags, but you'd never know it from the songs, which are sweetly charming and charmingly sweet. There are moments when I found myself wanting to shout at the stereo 'c'mon girl! Get a backbone! Get some rage, or you're always going to get bastards who treat you like rubbish!' but I managed to refrain. Y'see, while harking back to a golden age of pop, Spencer McGillicutty espouse female subservience, always forgiving the bad behaviour because, well, it's what boys, especially bad boys, do. In this enlightened, post-feminist age, it doesn't sit right.
Still, that's just me, and nothing should detract from the fact that this is an album that has clearly been lovingly and painstakingly conceived and immaculately realised.
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