Christin Nichols’ background is in acting, but it’s hard to say which of her many talents is currently reigning supreme. Right now it seems to be texting, singing and rocking. The Super Troupers start with “Spotlight”, the first track from their third, self-titled album. The piece – like the entire album – comes across as a hybrid of The Strokes and Ideal, exuding urgency and power. Which is great. And it’s fun.
The crux of the matter is that you already know all of this and have heard it one way or another so often that there is a risk of it being ignored. And that’s a shame, because Nichols really has a knack for themes and slogans. Unfortunately, these are crushed under anthemic pop action. In “No Control,” she sings about PMMD, a severe form of premenstrual syndrome, and theorizes that it prevents her from taking over the place because it really knocks women out once a month. In “No Depression” she drops the great sentence “It turns out, I don’t have depression, it was just you” – and in “Bitter Pills” she collaborates with the talented Gwen Dolyn from the band Tears, which turns out to be a well-matched duet vocally.
Particularly beautiful is “Other Women,” a pamphlet against the self-ascribed sovereignty of some men to interpret women and their life issues: “It’s not called relationship drama, it’s called femicide.” This piece opens musically like a beautiful flower and is truly wonderful. But otherwise, musically speaking, the interchangeability of the means unfortunately predominates. You can want that, you can do that, but I think Christin Nichols has a lot more innovative ability.
