DRINK ME

The lead whisperer/singer/squealer/screamer Katie-Jane Garside is what makes it all so special. The girl is clearly a complete loon, which is the highest compliment I can give! She goes from barely audible whispering to an astounding banshee wail in a matter of a second...she's that good.

The first song, 'Pretty Like Drugs' is a stormer of rock track, with half of the lyrics being sung in a very breathy manner, and the rest being hollered with force. All of this with a truly blinding guitar riff.

'Kitty Collar Tight' is probably the best song on the album, starting off with another excellent riff, going to the best vocals I've heard in YEARS, her odd kitten-ish croaky squeals occasionally sound strangely sexy...

'Siamese Almeida' kicks off with cracking drumming and generally continues along the same line...a decent art-rock kinda track.

'Razorblade Sky' is (mostly) a slower song, with KJG's very odd half-whispered-half-sung vocals and some nice bass guitar.

'Sleeping Pill' is a really strange one right from the start, very hard to describe accurately, but still a very good, slower track.

'A Bed Of Roses'...the most inappropriate title EVER. Buzzing guitars, Katie's violently hollered vocals, insane drumming...A really brilliant track, surely one to throw yourself around the room to.

'My Silent Undoing' is the EXACT opposite of the previous track. Acoustic guitar, softly sung vocals, a glockenspiel (seriously!)...a real lullaby, which brings me nicely onto...

'Desert Lullaby'...NOT a lullaby at all. The first 20 seconds or so are the most disturbing thing on record. A brilliant art-rock type affair.

'Under A Floorboard World' is a song full of tribal drumming, chainsaw guitars and the full range of KJG's amazing vocs.

'Hotel After Show'...a massive, brilliant, buzzing and drumming cacophony. Features THE MOST AMAZINGLY SCREECHED VOCALS ON RECORD!!!

'For I Am The Way' is a great way to end such a quite frankly weird album, a lot of the quietly sung vocals mixed with a large dose of feedback and guitars that genuinely sound like they're about to fall apart.

Coming in at 38.20 mins, it's not the shortest album ever, but it never outstays it's welcome. I've previously heard their music described as 'haunting', which sounds about right to me.

This is a genuinely fascinating album that should be bought by anyone who has an interest in something a bit (well, OK, a lot) different.

Queen Adreena's second offering, the Alice-in-Wonderland-titled "Drink Me" is much different to the first album. Perhaps more brutal, songs like Hotel Aftershow and Kitty Collar Tight really push the limit of Katie Jane's banshee wail. My Silent Undoing and Sleeping Pill also take the mellow side further, with Sleeping Pill almost Bjork inspired. The album is a 'joy' to listen to - to the uninitiated it could also be viewed as disturbing. A friend once had to stop listening to My Silent Undoing due to the fact the tinkling glockenspiel and Katie Jane's whispering, ghostly lullaby had begun to scare her. The song itself is the mellow highlight of the album, and the album follows in the pattern of its predecessor. The crunching, fiddly guitar intro of Pretty Like Drugs leads into a stomping riff and insane vocals, with the album ending on the saddened but self-affirming For I Am The Way. It got me into this wonderful band, this wonderful music, these enigmatic, and charismatic, incredible people.