The Stella Frays might pitch themselves as being 'a Totally British Rock/Punk band,' but on this, their debut single, elements of Britpop, mod, and garage are far more evident. The choppy, mod / britpop guitar riff is cranked up to eleven and given some phat analogue tube crunch, resulting in something approximating a less stoned and rather tamer rendition of Queens of the Stone Age's 'No-one Knows,' while the vocals are also given a crunchy, toppy garage rock edge, but tidy up the production and it's not a million miles away from Ocean Colour Scene. Just typing that sentence has dampened my spirits.
It's not as bad as all that, but for a punk / rock number, it's a little on the long side, too: clocking in at over four minutes, it wouldn't have been detrimental to cut a verse and a couple of choruses.
B-side 'Don't say Goodbye' is a very standard indie ballad. Yawn.
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