Tuesday 9 June 2009

PON006



The Scratch DIY CD album
The Scratch's first album, an eclectic mish mash of styles.

TRACKLISTING:

I RELAX TO SPIRAL SCRATCH
ROTTEN SOUL
TEXTURE TO THE FLAVA (ALBUM VERSION)
BRAINSTORM
X-RAY EYES
TRIGGER FINGER
BACK 2 TEN
ALCOHOL IS A DEPRESSANT
SUPERMODEL
EROTOMANIAC
LOGICAL MIND

REVIEW:
We've been following the progress of The Scratch with interest. Their (too) scant output so far has amounted to one 7” single and one 10” single, two records that introduced their widescreen vision, piqued our interest and then left us hungry for more. The four songs that appeared on the singles are here with an extra boot up their arses and a studio polish and sound even better than before.

'I Relax To Spiral Scratch' opens up the album and remains a gloriously dumb 3 minute kamikaze dive bomb of a tune. Like the Ramones and the Damned working through the Buzzcocks (well it would be with a title like that) song book on speed complete with outer space sound effects for good measure. It should be all too much but against the odds it works. Joint A side on the 7” single was 'Trigger Finger' and it appears here again, a spiky, shouty, trashy piece of work with howling guitars and a great spoken run through of some of Londons lowlights.

So now you’re probably ready to write them off as yet another London band with 3 chords and a whole lot of attitude. Well they’re a little more interesting than that (and they’re from Hertfordshire anyway). As their next release proved, another double A side, this time they moved into more dubby areas. 'X-Ray Eyes' in particular goes for a serious rumble around the bass bins whilst up top a steel guitar adds a funky vibe to proceedings. In essence it resides in the same musical landscape as Kasabian's 'Processed Beats' (a good thing) and demands to be cranked up loud. Meanwhile 'Brainstorm' takes a more introspective approach utilising a more rumbling bass sound and moody Massive Attackesque electronics. Eventually a sheet of guitar cuts through the narcotic haze to take us to a disorientating finale.

Theoretically bands should not be this unrestricted. It is soon apparent that these boys have record collections you could get lost in and that they also know their way round a studio. The dance element shouldn’t be a surprise, two of their members have had minor success making dance records in the past and their electronic beat building experience is all over this record. Perhaps the culmination of all these influences and high point of the record to these ears is 'Logical Mind', a funky, druggy groove that moves into Stone Roses territory with a sublime jangly guitar riff. It’s loping beat and laid back guitar make for a hazy classic.

Elsewhere 'Texture to the Flava' moves into a more straight forward rock area and they prove once again that they’re more than comfortable in switching styles. 'Alcohol's A Depressant' apart from having a title that you really don't want to hear, continues the journey into more straight forward pleasures indulging itself in a sub AC/DC riff. Whilst you wouldn’t be surprised to hear 'Supermodel' on the next Supergrass album (once again, no bad thing).

In fact the only real weak moment on the album arrives at the start of 'Back To Ten' where some ill-advised vocal harmonies prick the ears for the wrong reasons. The rest of the song redeems such over indulgences by showing yet another side to the Scratch that would happily sit in what in some quarters are calling a revival of the shoe gazing of the early 90's. Think Radio Dept rather than Slowdive.

The Scratch, as the title of the record suggests, got tired of waiting for the music industry to give them a chance and like many artists we talk about on W&H have decided to make their own way. The fact that they’ve achieved such a diverse yet coherent set of songs and that it sounds so damn professional is to be applauded. [www.whisperinandhollerin.co.uk]

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