Released:
Rating:
Leave your inhibitions at the door, because this is a record that runs purely on instinct.
Label: Ignition Records
Released: September 2nd 2016
Rating: ★★★★
Leave your inhibitions at the door, because this is a record that runs purely on instinct. Baby Strange’s rambunctious rock and roll has always been perfectly suited to the tightly packed, sweaty venues they frequent. In front of crowds bounding with a seemingly endless energy, the group have made their name as something of a voice of rebellion. With their debut album, the Glasgow trio lay the foundations for something bolder. Building from the same frenetic energy that’s made them such a formidable force on stages across the country, on ‘Want It Need It’ the band’s garage rooted rock aesthetic takes full form.
An invitation to down your drinks, link arms, and follow out into the night, ‘Pleasure City’ is an anthem for the most raucous of days. It’s this energy that Baby Strange convey so well. Tearing free of the day to day, what they offer over the album’s ten tracks is nothing complex – it doesn’t have to be. Reveling in its own unadulterated freedom, the record is escapism at its most electrifying.
Title track ‘Want It Need It’ is equal parts ramshackle and sweeping allure. Vocals switch from guttural chorus cries to magnetically echoing verses. With soaring melodies and drawn out vocals, ‘Human’ demonstrates the group at their most polished. The resolute marching beat of ‘VVV’ is almost a call to arms, whilst the lingering laments of ‘California Sun’ inject a sense of panoramic openness into the mix.
With a lot of these songs already released in one form or another, ‘Want It Need It’ is a compilation of everything Baby Strange have always been capable of. The real test will be to see where they go from here. If the songs gathered on this record are to be taken as sure indication, it’s sure to be far. Jessica Goodman
