Singles

Striplight - StripLight EP

Robert Macpherson 04/06/2007

Rating: 2/5

If your middle of the road four-chord James Blunt songwriter is the musical representation of a typical, boring, 9-to-5 pen pusher then Striplight are the ASBO collecting chavs loitering at your local bus stop, drinking cider and spitting on pensioners. This is not to say that the Peckham four-piece are the natural successors to So Solid Crew's ghetto throne, instead their jagged blend of punk and indie will grab you, pull you in every direction and won't leave until you're well and truly harassed.

The instruments themselves are only part-time offenders. On tracks like 'Electrified' they succeed in capturing edgy punk zeal with just enough melody to keep the song above water. On other occasions though, the guitars sound like implements of terror that have been dragged through some form of blender. Unfortunately, one cannot escape the fact that singer Liz Tumber's voice appears to have suffered the same fate.

As she verbally berates the listener over each track, Liz reaches chav levels of irritation. One can appreciate the desire in an era of musical uniformity for a unique sound, something that stands out; but when such attempts transform songs in audio equivalents of cheese graters then why bother?


Released: 0/06/2007