Derbyshire indie quartet THE STROLLERS' previous demo EP was an enjoyable, slightly shambolic and quintessentially English guitar affar of quiet wonder which suggested there were good things stirring in their collective loins.
Six months down the line, that prognosis appears to have held true, for their latest self-released three-track salvo "Your Reminder Has Changed" - recorded in the auspicious surroundings of Cornwall's Sawmill Studios, no less - is something of a leap forward in terms of both confidence and recording quality.
Opening track "Into The Dark" is considerably darker, denser and more purposeful than before, and though we're still certainly conjuring with recognisably indie pop shapes, The Strollers are enjoying twisting these into something harder and more resonant here, and it suits them to a T.
Just to derail my theory, of course, second tune "Red Skies" then comes along sounding much closer in spirit to the songs on the previous EP, being driven along by a trebly, Fall-meets-Libertines guitar motif and some effective high-end basslines. Just to throw me further off the scent, however, the lyrics have a Suede-ish doomed urban romance feel ("Up the street/ over the wall, we'll screw 'til late, we'll have it all"), yet it's curiously in keeping with the knife-edge feel of the music, so it's all good in the end.
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Closer, "It Breaks", meanwhile, again comes steeped in ambition and a much bigger sound, and there's even a touch of Richard Ashcroft-style starsailing misery in the lyrics ("It's true I miss you when I'm on my own/ But when I'm with you I miss being alone") which may sound like fairly predictable teen-angst on paper, but is nonetheless impossible NOT to relate to really.
So, having recently caught the attention of the likes of Steve Lamacq and the NME club nights, bigger things may well soon be afoot for The Strollers come 2006. Besides, they even have a manifesto which states they are "not art school...not ironic...we are not Franz Ferdinand." And, in a world apparently still keen to turn itself out to appear fashionably
angular, that's really quite refreshing.
So keep an eye out for The Strollers dawdling by. In reality they may be far more deadly than they initially appear. Headline acts beware.
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