Pop Justice

Rachael Neiman on the first two Shrag singles

Shrag – the first 2 singles (Where It’s At Is Where You Are)  

Perhaps one of the great new finds of 2007 have been the marvellous Shrag. We were lucky enough to catch them playing live at the Leeds Ladyfest in mid-April and their captivating live presence is perfectly encapsulated in the five tracks on this CD, which originally made up their first two singles released on the Where It’s At Is Where You Are label.

The Brighton-based 5-piece are already gaining fans all over the UK and are shortly going to be embarking on a national tour with The Cribs and Thermals. Shrag certainly sound like a band on the ascendance. The five tracks here would all be number 1 in an ideal world, the same world where this band would not end up supporting The Cribs and where visceral pop thrills would be valued above trendy regulation length indie fringes and Top Shop indie chic.

The first three tracks, in particular, are absolutely stunning. Opener ‘Pregnancy Scene’ bristles with dark guitar work and staccato vocals and an absurdly catchy chorus, all this and it manages to deliver a serious message about the cult of teen pregnancy and the scary rise of ‘pro-life’ rhetoric. ‘Mark E Smith’ is also a delicious, smart strutting pop song with X-Ray Specs style vocal delivery from lead singer Helen and some very impressive bass work, not entirely sure what the song is about, but I defy anyone not to feel compelled to sing along to the chorus.

‘Intelligent Theft’ is possibly the high point of this terrific selection of songs, a joyous pop song in the vane of Angelica about teen shoplifting and more generally about aspirations, boasting some great lyrics (“In the changing room we got future heirlooms, we swapped our underwear cause they couldn’t search us there”) and if you don’t find your feet tapping at least a little bit then there’s no pop justice in the world. The other two songs are also great, particularly final track ‘Hopelessly Wasted’. This is Shrag’s “slow one”, having a strange, simplistic, childlike nursery rhyme quality to it and is perhaps the best vehicle for showcasing Helen’s vocal skills, even if, to my ears at least, it fails to deliver the pure pop thrills of the first three tracks, maybe because it lacks in the frenetic energy and superb guitar work which characterises them.

All in all, Shrag are a band who deserve to be stars, and from the sound of their catchy, playful forthcoming single ‘Talk to the Left Hand Cause the Right Hand’s Busy’, they’re going the right way about it.

To find out more about Shrag please visit:
http://www.myspace.com/shrag

© 2007 Rachael Neiman

Rachael Neiman presents a regular show on Dandelion Radio and runs the Cherryade label from deepest Blackpool, boasting releases from The Bobby McGees and Tiger MCs.

© Miwsig