S/T

This self-titled debut from the Chicago-based fivesome delivers organ-heavy pop music with handclaps and straightforward rhythms.

Despite the male drummer they've stashed away in the back, Hollows bridge the gap between 60s girl-group Motown and all-girl 70s rock groups like Fanny and the Runaways. The album steers toward silly with the song Do the Scarecrow, in which vocalist/organ player Maria Jenkins sings, I found a field where I could stand with a fence post up my ass/I do the scarecrow, whoa whoa whoa. But fortunately, it levels out in the very next track, the seemingly more sincere and Phil Spectorinfluenced Happy to Listen, one of the subtler, more laid-back tunes on the record. S/T is a great debut from a band that has already found its niche.