Such a confounding name, Total Babe; after all, the band is all-out indie pop. Then again, when you were a teenager, a name like Total Babe would have been perfect for your acoustic-garage-pop. But it’s highly unlikely your pop songs would have been as… well, freaking amazing as Total Babe’s. Heatwave is packed with pop greatness. With airy female vocals, hefty acoustic guitar strums, and a few complex melodies, these songs are both honest and endearing.

“Bearbones” immediately snares the listener, but when the double-time guitar enters in the more ballad-like “Short Stories”, true love is experienced. You almost feel a bit naughty – like I said, Total Babe is filled with teenagers. By the time you get to “Gary Coleman” (Aren’t they too young to know that reference?) the love turns into nostalgia; a longing for the innocence that streams through in every song on Heatwave. There’s nothing sad here, just facts and a great deal of hope.

And when it comes to the songs that explode gleefully from the speakers – an insurmountable quantity of seemingly invincible promise. Promise, joy, love, a lack of insecurities, hope, dreams, fun… After all, isn’t this what youth is all about?

Total Babe: Barebones [mp3]

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Total Babe: Gary Coleman [mp3]

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So TM Records [CDEP, 2009]

1. Barebones
2. (Mission Hills Country Club Wall of) Champions
3. Short Stories
4. Gary Coleman
5. Shape Up
6. Country