The 1981 Listening Post - Karen Lawrence & the Pinz - Girls Night Out

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Karen Lawrence & The Pinz Girls Night Out Genre: New Wave Pop Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: Girls Night Out I Won’t Stop Hold Me Closer Karen Lawrence is a gifted vocalist who can turn on a dime from pouty singsong to wailing rock and then slide into confident vibrato to finish out the verse. She’s skilled at putting on a Ric Ocasek affectation to draw the listener in, then blasting a pure high note just for fun. There are moments when she flirts with a goth/new romantic vocal sound, even if The Pinz mostly play it straight. The album ping pongs between trying to sound current and reaching for the past. In Hold Me Closer, Lawrence hones a tough Chrissie Hynde edge in the verses and then rises to a punchy Pat Benatar howl in the choruses, ending with a handclap-laden Ronnie Spector fadeout. The girl group influenced tunes are hit and miss – So Tough has a classic early ‘60’s beat and some shrill harmonies, but a weird repeated guitar figure drags it down. Rebel keeps the structure simple, giving the singer the chance to show off her chops with impressive octave jumps and dynamic shifts, but it’s not much of a song. The requisite cover of Sealed With a Kiss flops completely, as Lawrence’s trained voice can’t sell the cheesy romantic sentiment, and juicing things up with a galloping beat only makes it worse. On the whole, the contemporary tracks work slightly better. The title song is a wonderful romp with some spine tingling vocal histrionics. I Won’t Stop ventures into spooky camp, even if the band doesn’t fully commit. This is actually a theme throughout the record: the playing is mostly average, even pedestrian. Blondes would have soared in the hands of the Go-Go’s, and Modern Times just aches to be elevated by the taut musicality of the Cars. Here, both are pretty meh, other than the vocals, which are sparkly and fun. In summary, Karen Lawrence has a great voice that doesn’t really find an effective outlet backed by this band, singing these songs. She made another album 5 years later with a completely different band. Was it any good? If I ever get a chance to hear it, I’ll let you know.