Sunday, June 13, 2010

Review: Little Fish "Baffled and Beat"


Are you longing for those bygone days of female-fronted alternate rock that was so prevalent in the late 90s...you know, the likes of Hole, Tracy Bonham, Letters to Cleo, and so on? If so, the alt rock duo from the UK, Little Fish, is a good catch. Little Fish consists of Juju (vocals and guitar), who is very reminiscent of Johnette Napolitano (Concrete Blonde), and Nez (drums), who is very reminiscent of, well, a drummer.

Their first album, "Baffled and Beat", is due out on Custard Records/Island in September 2010. They have been performing around the UK and Europe and have recently supported Them Crooked Vultures at The Royal Albert Hall, in a busy last year of touring they have also supported Supergrass, Dave Matthews Band, Doves, Placebo, Alice In Chains, Hole, Juliette Lewis, Eagles of Death Metal and Spinnerette.

For just two people, Juju and Nez can really rock the house. Juju's vocals oscillate between the pop smarts of Chrissie Hynde and the wackiness of PJ Harvey, but wherever she falls within this spectrum, her voice is strong and confident. Like her voice, her guitars are grungy and thump along with a tone full of midrange. "Baffled and Beat" contains a dozen decent alt rock songs with highlights including "Darling Dear", "Heroin Dance", and "Sweat N Shiver". "Luck's Run Out" is also a notable track as it shows a softer side of Juju, who delivers one of her most gentle yet moving performances.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 4, 5, 9, 12

You can get a free mp3 download of the title track here!

Little Fish on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for "Am I Crazy":

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