She Made Me Do It – Drenched

pic by @dcmusicvideos

There is nothing better than an encounter which immediately enthrals attention and appetite but is only scratching at the depths of temptation and adventure within. The Drenched EP from She Made Me Do It is one such offering; a release which instantly had ears pricked and the body bouncing but was just revealing the seeds to blossoming levels of imagination and seduction.

The four track release is another in a long line of rich enticement from the duo of Shaheena Dax (Rachel Stamp) and Will Crewdson (Rachel Stamp, Adam Ant, Scant Regard, The Selecter, Bow Wow Wow, Flesh For Lulu) and one of the pairs’ most deviously tempting offerings. From start to finish it is a magnetic almost teasing fusion of dark shadows and elegant radiance bound in an equally rich mix of punk, new wave, post punk and alternative rock adventure. The successor to their 2017 album, The Frantic Legion, the compelling exploits of Drenched sees the band’s sound even more defined yet bolder in its adventure and tapestry of flavours. Through the captivation and intimation of Dax’s golden yet often almost portentously lined vocals and the descriptive yet rousingly tenacious antics of Crewdson’s guitar to the suggestive caresses and intriguing shimmers of their keys, She Made Me Do It create a captivating web to immerse in and dance with.

Produced by Crewdson and with Joe Holweger providing drums, Drenched opens up with the swiftly irresistible Bones. Straightaway post punk tendrils escape Crewdson’s guitar, their clinging hues something akin to the claws cast in the past by the likes of Leitmotiv and Sex Gang Children. Escalating these lures by the second, the track builds into a lumbering but lively stroll where Dax soon springs her own potent temptation as bass and drums steer the dark throes of the song’s canter; the punk hues of guitar only adding to its anthemic and equally predacious swing. Inescapably infectious but with that great edge of danger and intimidation, the song, as indeed the EP, needed a mere play to get under the skin and only burrowing, deeper and deeper thereon in.

The following Broken Morning is a just as skilful manipulator of ears and appetite even as it instantly reveals a much warmer and calmer nature. That is no chain to an instinctive catchiness and creative eagerness though, the song devilishly impossible to resist joining in with especially when faced with one contagion laded chorus and again a swinging energy which enlivens the body and spirit of song and listener alike. There is something, if right now indefinably, familiar to the track but a hue which only adds to its compelling design and persuasion.

Ashes is next up, electronic pulses gently but firmly resonating before the dirtier breath of the bass joins up quickly followed by the similarly beckoning strains of guitar and voice. A song which relishes its electro pop instincts as fully as its rock ‘n’ roll heart, it offers a tapestry of flavours and creative twists, all as unpredictable as the track is unsurprising in its voracious zeal and stirring enterprise.

The release ends with the melodically celestial beauty of Time, a song of intimate and spatial elegance over an earthbound spine that just as easily ignites the imagination as the siren-esque flight above. It is a hauntingly mesmeric conclusion to a release which as we said just grows more impressive and tantalisingly by the listen. It is a heavier, more guitar driven rocker than predecessors but equally richer in its melodic and broad weave of flavours and adventure; a must in anyone’s book.

The Drenched EP is out February 1^st on Catranstic Records with pre-ordering available @ https://shemademedoit.bandcamp.com/album/drenched-e-p and https://shemmdi.com/store

https://www.shemmdi.com/ https://www.facebook.com/shemademedoitpage https://twitter.com/SheMMDI

Pete RingMaster 30/01/2019

Perfect Pop Co Op Sampler – Impulsive Compulsions 01

Dec5

As we all look for the perfect gift for loved ones this time of year, the irrepressible UK indie label Perfect Pop Co Op are giving one to all music lovers. Free with the December issue of their magazine, Impulsive Compulsions 01 brings together 13 tracks from six unique bands and seven projects past and present borne from within the Perfect Pop Co Op family; quite simply a baker’s dozen of the best and most mischievous songs and artists you could wish dangling from the stocking on your various speakers.

From start to finish, the album teases and flirts with the imagination as it dances with ears; getting off to a mighty start with Scant Regard. The band is the solo project of London-based guitarist/writer/producer Will Crewdson renowned for his work with the likes of Adam Ant, The Selecter, Johnette Napolitano, Flesh for Lulu, Bow Wow Wow, She Made Me Do It and Rachel Stamp, which he co-founded. Taken from his snare of an album, the wonderful Skipping Over Damaged Area which was released earlier this year, Destroy (We’re Here to) is a salacious flirtation of electro punk/ synth pop intimation; a viral infection which could even have the walking dead dancing to its hook spun, groove strung, guitar driven, funk sprouting machination.

It is a glorious start which sets the tone to the sampler, each track unapologetically individual in sound and character but united in DIY imagination, devilish intent, and sonic goodness as proven immediately by next up Impulsive Compulsions by Pony Virus. The band is the original incarnation of The Scratch and the track a tantalising piece of post punk shoe gaze as haunting as it is infectious. The song is a slice of weird with hues of eighties bands such as The Passage, The Wonder Stuff and Inspiral Carpets; teasing with these somewhat familiar spices in a whole new recipe sounding as fresh now as it did back in the day. The Scratch itself provides its own piece of temptation later in the album’s playlist with Teen Idol, itself a ridiculously magnetic encounter which had us hooked from the first rumbling growl of bass. Currently on hiatus after releasing a quartet of greedily devoured albums, the band’s sound s pure pop/indie punk romping blessed with seventies DIY adventure and inescapable contagion.

Through the sinister dark electronica bred dystopia of Age of Control in a remix by creators Rogue Sector, a track which also haunts ears and thoughts whilst teasing hips to gather momentum with its electronic dissonance, and the wonk pop punk bred Limited Ambition swung through ears by Andreas And The Wolf, temptation and captivation to the album only deepened. Both bands have debut albums in the works and each has been given a rich teaser through their contributions to Impulsive Compulsions.

Andreas And The Wolf also provide the radio show which this album has mutually sprung from with Perfect Pop Co Op, all favourite artists being greedily featured over time, none more so than the following pair of Dislocated Flowers and The Tuesday Club. The first of the pair gives AudioBiological to the parade of aural independence, an invasive psych rock track inciting the body to erupt as it corrupts the senses with its imposing and invigorating instrumental incitement. Unshakeable favourites and friends to The RR, The Tuesday Club simply infested the passions with Too Pure To Live, a slow swing of a creative virus directing hips and imagination like a puppeteer. The band has unleashed numerous gems over the past few years but this track alone shows they are creating not only their finest escapades but some of that fuelling the independent rock scene.

And the goodness just kept coming, just confirming already the thought we had rattling around the brain that this is an essential, indeed must have release. The Venus Overload kept the suggestion bubbling with their encounter Without Doubt, a sixties nurtured psych pop lure echoing the band’s major inspiration, The Velvet Underground, but with its own compelling persona.

Further into the album, the poetic drama and stark atmospheric breath of Sometimes When I Dream simply infested thought and appetite, the dark soundscape from Southdown Laundry Club, a project created by Pete ‘Joyless’ Jones (Department S) and Andrew Trussler (Rogue Sector) as mesmeric as it is chilling.

In its own way, Dead Marchers is just as tenebrific and haunting, the track by Bleeding Soul Angels an inviting smog of psych and dark pop with a raw edge to its contagion while the following Dream boy doin’ well had the body bouncing with its punkabilly stomp. The Bleeed is an offshoot of four members out of The Tuesday Club when it was a seven strong rascal, and features the devious swings of drummer and gentleman Terry Super Cockell, who since its creation has passed away. The band has vowed to return this year and on this scoundrel of a track we for one cannot wait.

The album is finished off by firstly Waiting for the Walls to Come Down from The Dodo. A band made up of Andy Scratch, Steve Filth and John the Bassist, who released one album in 2010 before the side project was put aside, they had the body bouncing like it was on a string with their contribution. Mixing sixties pop and seventies new wave to try and describe its epidemic of temptation, the track is another in a perpetual line of major treats, the last coming with album closer Way it goes. From Reverse Family, a project headed by the reported missing but maybe we know better (wink wink) Dermot Illogical, the band have just completed their 2018 epic task of releasing 365 songs over 365 in weekly EPs, an epic adventure in sound and pleasure we are still catching up on such its size. Way it goes gives all the reasons with its Adam & The Ants-esque, swing spun chicanery for you to go check it out too and the band’s debut album it comes from, My Songs About Life – Mid Crisis.

There are a host of truly great independent labels out there right now and Perfect Pop Co Op stands right there on the frontline and as mentioned all songs and artists have been featured on the Andreas and the Wolf radio show which equally we can only heartily recommend; the album in celebration of one year of their shows and fifty issues of the Perfect Pop Co Op magazine.

The Perfect Pop Co Op Sampler – Impulsive Compulsions 01 is out December 11^th free with the new issue of the Perfect Pop Co Op magazine.

https://theperfectpopco-op.bandcamp.com/ https://perfectpopco-op.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/perfectpopcoop/ https://perfectpopco-op.co.uk/magazine/

Pete RingMaster 5/12/2018

Scant Regard – Skipping Over Damaged Area

May10

Pic by Thomas Triton

A body infesting, imagination twisting kaleidoscope to the hope and insanity of the world we shape, Skipping Over Damaged Area is the senses ravishing new captivation from Scant Regard. An album of unscrupulous hooks, electronic virulence, and guitar carved intimation, it surges through ears casting a realm of suggestion and reflection as devilish as the themes inspiring its creative antics leaving hope, fear, and sheer pleasure in its wake.

Scant Regard is the solo project of London-based guitarist/writer/producer Will Crewdson. He is a musician few can have failed to have been consciously or unknowingly pleasured by. Whether with the rock escapades of Rachel Stamp, which he co-founded, and She Made Me Do It or through his work with the likes of Adam Ant, The Selecter, Johnette Napolitano, Flesh for Lulu, Bow Wow Wow and numerous other bands he played guitar for, Crewdson is a guitarist who has been in demand because of his instinctive ability to incite and bend the imagination as well as simply ignite songs and ears alike. Scant Regard has been an adventurous showcase for his craft and skills across four previous albums, Skipping Over Damaged Area a riveting new addition to their ranks.

Exploring various shades in an overall theme “of the apocalyptic destruction and devolution of the planet we live on”, Skipping Over Damaged Area is a tenacious maze of styles and flavours glazed with a sci-fi nurtured intrigue. At times it is like a warped soundtrack to a seventies TV show such as UFO, Space: 1999, or Doomwatch but with a dark lining in its every move; corrupting hope and light at a turn, tempering their threat in the next.

The album opens up with the swiftly addictive Mostly Accidental, electric pulses exploding on impact as it swaggers into view with an almost predacious swing. Instantly electronic suggestion and animation dances and flirts on the senses, thick doomy hues underlining the brewing Westworld-esque imagery conjured in thoughts by the instrumental piece which fully comes alive once Crewdson’s guitar explodes on the imagination.

It is an outstanding beginning, one to be honest we had to listen to twice before moving on upon our first listen to Skipping Over Damaged Area but quickly matched in strength and temptation by Fuck Everything. Repeated samples of its title float across a landscape of attitude, another electronically woven tale which immerses the listener in an evolving cascade of light and dark, fun and irritancy driven by inspiring shards of guitar.

The following Ill Gotten Gains is a corruption of sound and reflection; an addiction breeding ground with melodic lures aligned to dark deeds. At times it lies somewhere between the evolution of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh’s project British Electric Foundation into their band Heaven 17 but with thicker shadows and dare we say even more infectious boldness.

Similarly Destroy (We’re Here to) has an eighties electronic edge to it around hooks and melodies which border on the salacious. Like the musical voice to a modern day Mars Attacks, the track waltzed over the senses, sending them spiralling as the imagination conjures. Simultaneously feet and hips were given a good smile wearing work out before BIGBLACKSHADES creates a conspiracy of sound and suggestion with its cold wave meets industrial espionage. Electronics and guitar again unite in a dark interpretation of life, its funkiness contrasting yet complementing the song’s voracious dynamics.

A lighter climate accompanies the outstanding Car Crash on Pluto, the track like something akin to Fred Schneider colluding with Helldorado as they glide the cosmos upon surf rock fuelled winds, while Hemi Demi courts indie rock tenacity within its electro pop enterprise as again seventies flavoured hues spice its rock ‘n roll.

Through the celestial smoulder of Traits, a track with lava hot melodies veining a volatile shimmer, and the hook carrying electro smoking canter of Sublineage Blues, ears and imagination are drawn into further incendiary drama while Posthistoric springs a more intensive atmosphere and adventure to navigate as a bubbling undercurrent of catchiness snaps, crackles and pops. All three simply tantalise and captivate as the imagination fantasises, Crime and Retribution in turn sparking the same responses with its brooding electronic groans and emerging guitar spun cold war clamour.

The album closes with Blue Moon Juice, a collage of vivacious sounds woven into a canvas of rockabilly bred devilry; imagine a psychobilly Yello and you get a hint of the track’s irresistible lure as it brings the album to a forcibly magnet conclusion.

Skipping Over Damaged Area is a prismatic insight and incitement for body and thoughts. It impacts on numerous levels, pleasures on every one. Crewdson is no stranger to attention and acclaim and can expect plenty more with what just might be his finest moment yet.

Skipping Over Damaged Area is out now on download and CD @ https://scantregard.bandcamp.com/album/skipping-over-damaged-area

https://scantregard.com https://www.facebook.com/scantregardpage https://twitter.com/scantregard

Pete RingMaster 09/05/2018