Bristol's Straw have already made plans in case it all goes wrong. So during the Reggie Perrin - style Moving To California they sing, "If we get dropped/I will fly out the window". Which is sweet, if a little premature. Because, whether singing fantasies about America or merely fleeing ennui-drenched suburban lives, this is about evading the mundane through end-of the-pier organs and mod stroppiness. And if that sounds a little too familiar, then it's because it is.
Yet despite the fact singer Mattie Bennett looks a bit like Damon Albarn and has polished his West Country accent into cockernee signing vowels, there is more to this than mere imitation. They have grander ambitions and they reside in the anthemic pop of debut single 'Weird Superman', the frazzled space rock of 'Transistor' and the sleepily funky 'Dracula'.
In that direction lies their great escape. The trick is ensuring that it doesn’t sound too much like someone else's.

Jim Alexander

Back