Album Review: Berries - "How We Function"

 

We first encountered Berries in the Singles Bar a couple of months back with their recent Wall of Noise release and enjoyed it so I was intrigued when this, their debut album, landed in the review pile. Signed to Xtra Mile, the band definitely have a very angular sound to them. There's elements of post-punk in there but kind of fed through a grunge filter.

The band Berries most remind me of on here actually is the Throwing Muses (if they'd been devotees of Magazine and Wire) and that's a definite compliment. There's definitely a hint of Pauline Murray in the vocals as well which is never a bad thing. Songs like Spiral and The Expert have just the right mix of angst, tightness and melody to blend together into something pretty engaging. The overbearing theme here seems to be that of people being socially programmed to accept what society throws at them and there's certainly some good points raised here in the lyrics of We Are Machines, Copy and Haze, the latter of which packs in a killer guitar solo as well. Sirens even sounds like the Breeders giving a sea shanty a bit of an overhaul which is a sentence I never thought I'd find myself typing.

It's always good to find a band not only doing something different but doing it well and Berries have definitely marked themselves out as ones to watch on this album. Not only that but it's good to find a band who definitely have a post-punk influence and aren't afraid to mix some decent melodies and tunes in there as well. A very promising debut, make no mistake.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Garbage Days Revisited #67: Jason & The Scorchers - "Still Standing" (1986)

Image
  "And though you are so far away, ten thousand miles of sorrow/This prison cannot, will not kill our blessed free tomorrow"  - Jason & The Scorchers  - Good Things Come To Those Who Wait Like a lot of Britrockers my age, it's probably Ginger Wildheart 's fault that I became a Jason & The Scorchers fan. They're a band who the G-man has never made any secret of his admiration for and the Wildhearts even covered the Scorchers classic White Lies  as a B-side to Anthem  many years ago. Most people who've heard them will happily tell you that the group's 1983 EP Fervor  and their 1985 debut full length*  Lost & Found  are classics of the cowpunk genre, the perfect missing link between Johnny Cash and the Ramones and you can add me to that list as well. The follow-up, 1986's Still Standing though? Now that one seems to be a bit more divisive. And that's why it's the one we're covering here on Garbage Days Revisited... (* - well, sort
Read more

Album Review: Steve Vincent - "Recovered From My Past"

Image
  Best known as the frontman of Brit sleaze perennials Paradise Alley, this is the first solo album from Steve Vincent. I have to be honest, Steve's day job band are one of those who I've heard of but don't recall hearing anything by but the general signs here appeared to be promising with a guest list including the Wildhearts' Danny McCormack, ex-Dolls and current Mike Monroe guitarist Steve Conte and McCormack's old Main Grains bandmate (along with several others) Ben Marsden. The first thing to be aware of here though is that if you're expecting a Soho sleaze by numbers affair then you might just be in for a bit of a surprise. If anything, Recovered From My Past  sails closer to the shores of power pop or the vintage strain of '80s Brit-glam (the Babysitters, Soho Roses, Torme, Marionette etc) with a healthy dash of early Hanoi Rocks in there as well. Certainly the harmonica honking likes of Yesterday's Man , Last Train To Babylon  and Can't Bring
Read more

Album Review: The Wannabes - "Monster Beach"

Image
The Wannabes are the musical brainchild of Nottingham resident Wayne Zenith and from looking at the guy's  Bandcamp page , I think it's fair to say he's a somewhat prolific feller with over 50 releases under various incarnations on there. Musically, as the title and artwork probably suggest, it's pretty straightforward Ramones style three-chord headbanger territory (including a competent cover of Rockaway Beach ) with a touch of the Cramps' gleefully sicko gorehound tendencies as songs with titles such as I Was There At The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Stuff Cindy In The Incinerator  suggest. There's a few little tricks in there to ensure this doesn't fall into one trick pony territory though with the keyboards over the top actually adding a bit of a '60s Nuggets  style feel to some of the songs especially opener Somehow  which even has an extended piano-led break in the middle - brave move but it works. The more moody mid-paced Drag You Down  (whic
Read more