SINGLE REVIEW | UNDER THE SURFACE | BABY STRANGE

Legendary post-punk trio, ‘Baby Strange’, go deeper into inner-city nightmares, with new single, ‘Under the Surface’.

Godfather’s of the thriving Glasgow punk scene, (A title more thrusted upon them by deferential fans than self-proclaimed). Baby Strange have kindly thrown another offering to all punk-heads, hungry for anything the band will allow them to devour. 

‘Under the Surface’, follows in the same vein as their previous single, ‘Midnight’. An industrial aura lies at the core of this track, calling back to the alienated club hell of Iggy Pop’s, ‘The Idiot’, permeated with loneliness and a tortured longing for something beyond the confines of cheap thrills and fruitless hedonism. The track focuses on pining for someone and craving for a connection that goes deeper than a shallow, refined version of affection. Solid drum beats and stilted guitar riffs, dance around Johnny Madden’s vocals which go from rueful crooning, to machine gun like outbursts that threaten the song’s complete disintegration. Oscillating between desire and disdain; harmony and chaos, the trio’s blend of indie and punk sensibilities is ultimately, what gives tracks like these, their cut-throat edge.

With so many years under their belt and record label, ‘Icons Creating Evil Art’ at their side, Baby Strange are not so much a well oiled machine as an unstoppable force, totally in control of their sound and what they want to say. Undoubtedly, this is no surface level band!