The Beautiful Girls are an Australian rock group led by frontman Mat McHugh. The group’s sound showcases a hodgepodge of styles, touching on folk, pop, and reggae although roots music is at the heart of their sound. Their breezy acoustic atmosphere frequently draw comparisons to Jack Johnson and Ben Harper.
The group formed in 2001 in Sydney, Australia originally consisting of members Mitch Connelly (drums), Clay MacDonald (bass, xylophone, recorder), and Mat McHugh (lead vocals and lead guitars). Prior to the group’s formation McHugh acted as a solo artist in New York City, but did not stay there for long. Once he returned to Sydney he immediately started to construct demos for The Beautiful Girls. In 2002 the group released two EPs, their 8 track “Morning Sun”, and “Goodtimes”. Both EPs were issued trough their own self-funded independent label, which was distributed by MGM.
Their studio debut “Learn Yourself” saw release on 22 September 2003 and featured Brushfire Records recording artist Mason Jennings as well as Soul Asylum drummer Ian Mussington. The group (now a three piece) promoted the album with live dates in Canada, the US, and Japan.
Following this tour the band issued their EP “Weight of the World”, which took a change of pace, heading in a more dance oriented and hip-hop influenced direction. The band supported the EP with a tour of Australia and recruited the aid of Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Felipe Kmiecik. Kmieck also appeared on their 2nd studio album “We’re Already Gone”, contributing keyboards, melodica, and harmonica. This release though darker and musically complex than their previous albums proved to be incredibly successful, reaching No. 19 on the ARIA Albums Chart.
In 2006 the group put out the compilation album “Water” and the following year Connelly, MacDonald, and Kmiecik left the band leaving McHugh as the sole original member. Despite the drastic line up change the newly revised Beautiful Girls issued one of their most popular albums to date “Ziggurats”, which entered the Australian albums chart at No. 21 and featured the hit single “I Thought About You”.
McHugh took a break from the band in 2008 to focus on his solo career, but returned in 2010 to put out their 4th studio album “Spooks”. The album launched to No. 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart, No.7 on the Billboard Reggae Albums Chart and No.1 on the Australian Independent Chart.
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