On the surface, LITTLE FISH appear to have bitten on the sort of success-loaded bait most bands swimming in Pop's shark-infested waters would kill for. Opportunity to be discovered by no less than Linda Perry while performing at a small Oxford boozer and whisked off to LA to lay down your début album as a result? CHOMP!!! Offer accepted faster than you can say 'Chateau Marmont'.
Of course, things aren't quite what they seem on the surface in the despicable Rock'n'Roll world. That starstruck 'sound-bite' version of Little Fish's apparently astronomical rise through the Indie ranks fails to take into account several years of slogging around the circuit honing their craft before Ms. Perry and the warm California sun gave things a nudge. It also neglects the fact that vocalist/ guitarist Juju Sophie and drummer Nez Greenaway have been endlessly working the support circuit and living with these songs for the past twelve months since their life changed.
And it's a credit to both their self-belief and determination that the twelve songs making up the long-awaited 'Baffled And Beat' still sound as raw and frisky as they do, even after the LA studio airbrush. Yes, there are some helpful organ and piano touches (which 'ghost' Hammond player Ben has been re-creating live of late) and even a few detectable basslines shoring up the duo's bare bones guitar and drums attack, but 'Baffled And Beat' is, for the most part, still the brattily visceral little bastard of a début most of us were hoping for.
Opener 'Bang! Bang!' gives you some idea what to expect. As cheeky, blunt and no-nonsense as the title suggests, it's as primal as Rock'n'Roll comes, but none the worse for that. As it turns out, it's merely the first of a series of Punk-Pop cherry bombs they liberally lob around as the album unfolds. Indeed, the singles – the mutant, Indie rockabilly lurch of 'Whiplash' and the brain-flaying intensity of the obsessive 'Am I Crazy?' - are by no means the obvious stand-out tracks. 'Die Young', for example, is a brooding overload led by Nez's controlled, John Bonham-style clatter and one of Juju's gutsiest vocals, while the catchy, 'Nuggets'-style Pop (capital letters, please) of 'Sweat 'n' Shiver' is surely a single in waiting.
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The album's main weakness is its' predilection for playing 'spot the influence'. Cool though it is, 'Darling Dear' is uncomfortably close to The Velvets' 'Heroin', while 'Heroin Dance' (wince) has more than a tinge or two of Patti Smith about it. On the other side of the coin, their desire to stretch is commendable. 'Luck's Run Out', for example, is a surprisingly successful piano-soaked ballad which provides Juju a chance to vent her Kate Bush inclinations. Perhaps even better is the closing 'Sorry State', perhaps the most fully-realised track here with slide guitar and organ conspiring to create something truly sublime.
'Baffled And Beat' is a good start. It has seedy Rock'n'Roll cool in spades and sounds admirably raw, despite the budget I assume they were working with. Its' tendency to wear its' sleazy Rock'n'Roll colours so brazenly on its' sleeve muffles my expected fanfare a little, but it's definitely getting there and it serves notice that Little Fish will not remain minnows in the global pool for much longer.
Little Fish on Myspace
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