Strawberry Whiplash
Who’s in Your Dreams EP
Matinee
Like the female foil to Bubblegum Lemonade’s debut Matinee EP that recently passed through my review pile, Strawberry Whiplash’s Who’s in Your Dreams is the work of a Glaswegian act that pays heavy debts to the thick, syrupy pop of the ’80s and the halcyon days of lo-fi bedsit recordings. S.W.’s chops aren’t as tightly wrought as their countrymen’s, but the roughed up electric guitar strum on “It Rains on Other Planets,” the slightly arrhythmic synth stabs, and the feedback strewn chorus of “My Day Today” appeal to the tossed-off charm that The Pastels and the rest of the C86 off-shoot of post-punk built their following on. “Factory Girl” is somehow a simplified version of the other tracks’ messy fun, yet more anthemic and insistently romantic; it feels like a distant cousin to Jesus and Mary Chain’s classic “Just Like Honey.” It’s just wonderful. Let’s have that full-length soon, eh?
Matinee Recordings: http://www.indiepages.com/matinee
