Labels: Cosmonaut
Review by: Alex Deller
Playing this kind of music is something of a delicate art as far as I’m concerned, kind of like pouring maple syrup on your pancakes. It needs to be sweet and sickly, but a slip of the hand can make the whole thing unbearable. Sheryl’s Magnetic Aura, it has to be said, have the knack. Whilst the basic indie pop prerequisites are in place – sloppy melodies, tentative tambourine shakes, slightly off-key backing vocals and lyrics about girls and/or being a jerk – there’s something else at work making their music more than just another batch of pleasant rock songs. Sheryl’s saving grace is the slight rawness of their music “” edges left unsmoothed and the hint of mania that seems to creep into the singer’s voice on songs like “Get Out Of Town’, a restless, teeth-gritting nervous tension suggesting that “just being friends” still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. And what that leaves us with is five sweet, lovely, edgily skittish songs of twangy indie rock that should wholeheartedly satisfy fans of Braid, Modest Mouse and Sebadoh without making their teeth ache or their wee smell of Sugar Puffs. Champion.