Marine Girls

The Marine Girls' second and final album -- the group had already split by the time of its release, with Tracey Thorn pursuing a solo career before forming Everything But the Girl and the Fox sisters forming the even more minimalist Grab Grab the Haddock -- is far more polished than their 1981 debut, at times almost approaching professionalism. The clangorous clatter of the debut is largely absent here. Instead, producer Stuart Moxham (formerly of Young Marble Giants, whose sole album, Colossal Youth, is perhaps the pinnacle of this type of minimal indie pop) gives the album a soft, intimate sound. Singer Alice Fox has a much more tuneful voice this time out, and songwriter and secondary singer Thorn is clearly inching toward the jazz-influenced prettiness of early Everything But the Girl, especially on the downright lovely "Love to Know." Her guitar playing and Jane Fox' bass work are also considerably more refined. Purists might miss the noisiness of Beach Party, but Lazy Ways is in every way a far better record, and one of the best U.K. indie albums of 1983. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide