Warpaint [CD]

On Warpaint the band's second full-length release, Scarlet Soho prove once again that they are in a genre of their own making and a genre with which they are the only band in it. Whether you like what Scarlet Soho do will have more to do with your collective musical tastes and if you're equally open-minded enough to indulge in something that so unashamedly and brilliantly mixes such different musical styles into this melting pot of originality and willingness to share their influences.

I love Scarlet Soho. Like early, edgy Pet Shop Boys material romancing with a Depeche Mode track. Elements of Adam & The Ants dancing theatrically with the lean pop rock stylings of A-Ha; whilst banging club music in the style of Blue Monday spars with moments of dark, Trent Reznor soundscapes. All the while, the faint glimmer of 80's metal permeates throughout and the distinctly deliberate nod towards Duran Duran infused pop brilliance also becomes apparent.

And there is still so much more.

Scarlet Soho retain their dark, dry sense of humour with lyrically diverse subjects, all with an air of romanticism, political diversions and social commentary. All delivered in the usual, cold and disparate way; both heartless and soulful all at the same time. Frontman James Knights takes us where Dave Gahan left us, invites Trent Reznor along to the studio and ends up sounding a bit like the bloke from Mansun!

The album starts off with the excellent I Dare. Synths blip in controlled arpeggiated rhythms and then an awesome drum and bass (as in drums and bass) groove hammers along, foot to the floor and in strict 4/4 time. A great vocal, plenty of intertwining synths and strings and use of simple keyboard riffs bouncing in and out in sync with the melodies. This sets the tone perfectly and it is at this point whether you'll either be glad you got into Scarlet Soho or it will re-affirm why you still think the band sucks. Liking this band is not a preference or a decision that can be made based on trends and opinion, it is all down to the same reason as to why you love Brussel Sprouts or not!

Model Of Control is like a night of passion between Erasure and the aforementioned Adam & The Ants. Former single Analogue Dialogue has the best chorus. One of the great choruses in fact! It is all intricate synth lines, simple, yet purposeful drums and moments of divine electro clatter and chaos, especially on the excellent middle-8. And it still sounds like Eye of the Tiger at the beginning!

The wistful, leftfield pop of Cyclone is full of sexy, provocative lyrics. Deliberately vague, although designed to make perfect sense, however you decide to decipher them. Stripped bare and callous in its approach, underneath the pop sheen, Cyclone is one of the darkest pieces on here. At the end, Knight's anguished screams of `cyclone' are eerie, especially as once again, dark moments of electronica permeate the musical landscape beneath.

This Nausea is all post-modern dance music. Oakenfold remixing the Human League maybe. A stand-out track on the album for sure and a potential club hit if the right person got hold of it.

Things go very strange all of a sudden. Under Strict Surveillance sees the band stretch their musical wings and fly further into the huge expanse of genre they have created for themselves. A slow, clean, but grimy bass line throbs along with some jilted, almost stoner drums and 80's electro washes of colour. Some nasty, pitch-shifted, spoken word vocals briefly bubble underneath, but otherwise an instrumental half time orange if you will. I like it.

However, this brief foray into different musical territory makes (the actually rather good) Speak Your Mind seem a tad uninspired. It is in fact Scarlet Soho back to their own brand of excellent electropoprock and as a standalone single it is really rather good, but here, it sounds out of place after the previous musical venture.

Thankfully for the benefit of the album and consequently, Scarlet Soho, Satellites sees the band once again flexing their musical output. A pop rock ballad in the more traditional sense, but again, the haunting melodies, distorted vocal fx and leftfield approach make this an enticing and grandiose piece of music.

Then Scarlet Soho confound my expectations further by doing exactly what they do best, only this time they capture exactly why sticking to what a band does best is actually better than straying too far from what one expects. Listening to any band diversify and explore beyond their natural realm is always satisfying for both the band and the listener, but to reclaim what you do so well as Scarlet Soho do with Is Growing Up The Best That We Can Do? is pure genius.

Finally, Lights Out London is not the simple, guitar ballad the title suggest it might be, but in fact a lightning fast electro fairground ride. Scattered beats, plenty more synth riffs and more pop, singalong choruses. Great stuff

Scarlet Soho don't patronize us with a secret track of vanity and excess. No, this is all over in just over half an hour and without even needing to beg for more, is getting played again. Only this time it sounds even better than the first time, and so on. Scarlet Soho's appeal is not in what you know already, but in discovering something completely new and unique. As the band's growing fan base would no doubt tell you, be daring enough to try some and you might actually fall in love with this band.

Originally published on southSCENE (RIP) online music website