Universal Sex Arena – Women Will Be Girls

Look beyond the sleazy triumvirate of band name, album title and cover art (a kitsch bunga bunga fantasy in pen and watercolour), and the debut album from Italy’s Universal Sex Arena has plenty to recommend it. With archetypal psychedelia, garage rock and twanging surf guitar setting solid foundations, the sextet rattle out rambunctious, urgent variations on a vintage theme, without ever sounding antiquated or phony.

They do, however, sound like a band in need of an editor, with Women Will Be Girls’ 15-track, 53-minute bulk in definite want of a trim, its palette too narrow to warrant such sprawl. Admittedly, some of the album’s slighter offerings earn a place by injecting diversity (for instance, Kill You’s lo-fi acoustic interlude) but others, like Brain Ferry or Slow Down, just drag. Ignore the bloat, however, and Universal Sex Arena do themselves proud – let’s just hope they don’t last even longer on their second go.