In a freezing cold studio somewhere on the East side of Toronto, Army Girls came together to record their debut EP early last year. With the help of Fucked Up’s Ben Cook, a giant scarf, and possibly the motivation of the frigid temperatures, Army Girls recorded five songs in four hours, and in mid-September released them as Close To The Bone.

Made up of vocalist / guitarist Carmen Elle and drummer Andy Smith, Army Girls is a duo in a time when it’s not unusual to be a duo, or even to be a duo that sounds like a four-piece. But Smith and Elle prove that there’s more to the popular formation than volume or clatter. Elle’s voice is feminine and sultry, just slightly battered around the edges, but always in control. It’s her guitars that provide most of the swagger, with great 90s riot-grrl riffs and a touch of spacey distortion.

Andy Smith was a later addition to Elle’s originally-solo act, but it’s hard to imagine what Close To The Bone would sound like without him. His rattling drums and ringing, blown-out cymbals make the sound complete, fueling Elle’s energy and pushing it from space pop into sweaty garage territory. They heighten the anger on “The Power,” highlighting the growl as Elle promises “One day all of this will hound you / Until there’s nowhere left to run to.” In the following track, “Cold & Alcohol,” the percussion anchors the vocals like a sandbag on a balloon, preventing the song from drifting off into ethereal territory.

Close To The Bone is an exercise in balance, a remarkably successful attempt to compress pop music’s “loud-quiet-loud” philosophy into a concurrent experience, rather than a progression. Smith and Elle prove that sophistication doesn’t have to be boring, and that subtlety doesn’t preclude being entertaining as hell.
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Close To The Bones is available on iTunes and via Army Girls’ Bandcamp.