DEMO DEN

EARL: Untitled - The latest offering from the Pendle girl trio shows they are developing the songwriting maturity they needed when they first came to light last summer.

Opening track Forcing Me is the best here, combining simple but unorthodox songwriting where the thrills come from subtle key changes and the nuances of singer Ruth Daniel's voice. The second song, Tomorrow Is Today Was Yesterday, sees Ruth's vocals floating elegantly above a deep swirl of warped guitar, low-sounding synth patterns and tough drumming from her sister Fiona. Both sisters, and bassist Lizzie Evans, perform vocal duties admirably throughout the demo. But as the second tune wears on, the tale of dreams and self-belief gets a little confrontational, with Ruth sounding increasingly angry. The final track Common Sensuality is a funkier number with organ sounds helping it along. The use of an extra keyboard player and percussionist add weight to the songs and I hope the quality will not be compromised when the girls play as a three-piece. This demo might be strong enough to springboard them on to the national alternative scene if their luck holds.

PAUL BARRY

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.