Ava Cadenhead |
Glaswegian three-piece first emerged on the music scene in 2013 and, finally, after three years, they released their incredible debut Want It Need It. The st
yle is harsh yet filled with enough gritty guitars and lush vocals to file itself in-between punk and pop. Want It Need It is a beautiful yet dangerous masterpiece.
A vast number of the tracks on Want It Need It have been re-mastered following their previous releases as singles. Pure Evil opens the album with its trademark harshness, vicious guitars and perverse bass while the next track has a slightly more pop-punk slant to it. The magnificent Nude is filled with energy, drive and seriously good guitar parts and unison vocals. Next up is one of the Baby Strange anthems Pleasure City. Pop influences are definitely dominant in this relaxed, 1970s feeling number. From the 70s we travel back in time to the 50s with summer anthem California Sun. The guitar parts provide a distorted surf feel, creating chilled, happy vibes. When we reach the 5th track, we are suddenly transported back to 70s glam-rock. The slow rhythm combined with its lyrical content make VVV a stunning, very special track. The re-mastered version of Friend is as hectic as ever, driven by drums and an agitated bass creating a scruffy pop-punk work-of-art teeming with rough-edged vocals. The recently released single Trouble is already proving to be a strong contender for Baby Strange’s already strong live repertoire. They have produced yet another catchy, enthusiastic anthem. Another re-mastered single released two years ago follows. Distance Yourself retains most of its original feel, with only new vocals which are possibly slightly more polished and sharper than the original. We travel to yet another one of the greatest music decades – the 80s – with the penultimate track, Human. Their lackadaisical, almost half-hearted approach to this number makes it sit slightly out of place in the midst of the other tracks, however, it is another brilliant, haunting song. The title track, Want It Need It, finishes off the album perfectly, reinforcing the band’s mischievous nature, while being the most driven and frenzied song on the album.
On the album’s release date, September 2nd, Baby Strange treated their fans to an album signing and live show in HMV Argyle Street, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of. The band played the majority of their album, performing the re-mastered works of their previous singles. Vocalist Johnny Madden graced the stage with a constant cheeky, smirk-l
ike grin plastered across his face, alongside bandmates and brothers Connaire and Aidan McCann. Along with being outstanding live, the trio were such lovely, genuine guys that were quite clearly ecstatic and perplexed by the fact that they had just released their very own album.
Baby Strange have produced a stunning first album, taking listeners on a journey through the decades with the slightly varied genre of each track. Want It Need It showcases the mere talent of the trio and gives us a vision of the excitement of their live shows, making us desperate to catch a performance. The band’s following in their homeland Glasgow already know how special Baby Strange are and hopefully, surely, Want It Need It will show the rest of the world what they’ve been missing.
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