EXTRAORDINARY. Great word. Something which shakes your world. Makes you stand open-mouthed marvelling at whatever it might be. Ask Cartman. When an elephant f***s a pig, now that's extraordinary.
Take an iddy-biddy bit of the word away and you're left with ordinary. Nobody wants to be ordinary. Least of all our four new friends from Bristol. See, Straw write pop music, simple, and straightforward. They stick in the part of your head where they're supposed to stick. What makes Straw and kindred newcomers like Ooberman and Sound 5 stand out is the way they turn pop on its head or, at least, they bend it over a little.
It always helps to have some daft titles too; "Dracula Has Risen From the Grave" is a real doozie. The song's even better, a kind of gentle detuned radio-type affair, chinks of sound flying around, slow pimping keyboard, a slab of brass, a sweep of strings. Then there's "Weird Superman" and its belting singalong chorus which isn't dissimilar to REM's "Superman". "The Aeroplane Song" we all know and is as a good a guide to Straw as you'll need. Sublime melody + floaty vocal x soaring chorus = beaming pop. Simple, huh?
But it isn't all plain sailing. Not a huge deal, but new single "Movin' To California" sees singer Mattie Bennett - vocally and lyrically - take on an Oasis sheen. Or is that The Beatles. Hard to tell these days. And once the thought's there, it's hard to shift. By the time you get to "The Soundtrack of the Summer", Mattie's stretching his words owwwwwt. And he's rhyming "moon" with "tune". Bit worrying, really. Maybe "Anthem for the Low in Self Esteem" explains IT all. Not that this band should be lacking in any sort of confidence, for here is an album gorged with above-ordinary songs which are brash and bold and, for the most part, gleam like all good pop should.
Like a clever person said, if there's any kind of dispute about Straw's impending fame, maybe we should have a poll. Hur. Hur.

Neil Mason

Back