Girls Names

Girls Names — a Belfast, Ireland-based group whose shambling, lo-fi tunes give a nod to old-school indie pop acts like Beat Happening, Field Mice, and Josef K — formed in 2009, initially as a duo consisting of Cathal Cully and Neil Peel. Bassist Claire was brought on board as a full-fledged member of Girls Names the following year. Girls Names' demos were released on cassette tape on the Belfast-based label Cass/Flick soon after they formed, and their first mini-album, You Should Know by Now, was released on Tough Love in the spring of 2010. A 12" EP on Captured Tracks, Don't Let Me In, followed soon after. The band next signed to Slumberland and early in 2011 released their debut album Dead to Me. After releasing a split single with the band Weird Dreams in 2012, Girls Names added new guitarist Phil Quinn to the lineup and began working on a new album. The first single, the nearly eight-minute-long "The New Life" (with a remix by J.D. Twitch of Optimo on the B-side)," signaled a change to a more expansive sound. Their second album, The New Life, was released in early 2013 by Tough Love in the U.K. and Slumberland in the U.S.