Some demos demand attention. This demo demands attention.
It had a singed scroll of piratical introduction. It starts with a dangerous clang of hard metal and distorted guitars that sweep you into a pop buckling riot of two grrrl chanting and pummelling.
The scary combination of Cathy Russell (ex The Ivories) and Hayley Avron (ex The Tennessee Traincrash) doesn't copy anything that I've heard before. Mean, lawless, undead seafarers that they are, they have stolen plenty of bandanas, swords, riffs, drumbeats and barrels of rum from weaker travellers along the way. But, from that first mighty clang and the sheer strangeness of the percussion and zombie chorus it’s clear that they're not in this to refry any heroes (alive or dead).
"For What It's Worth" charges along as a guitar/bass song with two voices inside some kind of submarine mayhem. They have taken a load of trouble to weird it up and keep it glinting from beginning to end. I especially like the last verse, packed full of sh sh ships and sh sh shivers.
"Hard Blow" could be the taken the wrong way. It’s furious disco punk about how sad boys are, I think.
"Has life ever dealt you a hard blow? … Bad stuff happens you know …And the boys always think its all about the boys".
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I don’t think this is meant to be reassuring.
"Things gets worse when it’s s'posed to get better".
No, it’s not reassuring.
All this is sung/spoken at a cracking sped with a relentless two bar riff banging in at about 30 seconds and then staying for the full passage.
In tracks one and two, the three minute tedium threshold has been comfortably avoided. Track three, "7, 2 and half madman", just beats the semi-decency of two minutes. It’s a big mash of blips and bumps in a box with a slightly distant industrial guitar and a foreground of mysterious lyrics with sighs and whispers. It sounds fresh.
I don’t think you can actually get this anywhere just yet. My pirate scroll was elliptical, if not obscure. But you should pay attention next time you see notice of GHOST FLEET. The chances of them not surfacing from the mighty waves crashing out of Leeds these days seem slight.
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