Band : Strawberry Blondes
Album title : Fight Back
Label : Not On Your Radio Records (UK) – Wolverine Records (Europe)
Distributor : Sonic Rendezvous
Release date : 02/10/2009 (Eur; UK= 08/11/2009)
Release : CD

First time I heard about this Newport based British Punk Rock band, even if this is already their 3rd release (following the 4-track KingmobEP issued on Thrill City Records in 2002, you also had the full-length Rise Up, released through Deck Cheese Records in 2007), and as far as I’m concerned, they’ve earned the right to survive the current “crisis” in the music business…may they deliver plenty more of albums indeed!

You see, the SB members (lead singer/ guitarist Mickie Stabbs, bassist/ backing singer Benji Riot and drummer/ backing singer Jay Rebel) carry the bands they call “influences” close at heart, and indeed also in their music! Beside a couple of more “contemporary” influences such as Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Green Day, Social Distortion, The Living End, and more…the band is also fond of a lot of the older generation of Punk, Ska, and Roots bands [check: The Clash, Specials (they do a nice version of “Rudi”), The Pogues (check the very remeniscent “Las Brigadas Internationales”), Toots & The Mayals, Johnny Cash, Public Enemy, Stiff Little Fingers, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, and oh-so-many more…], and whenever they need a horn (trumpet for sure, trombone perhaps?) to fit a song’s needs, they can count on their manager Emma Jones to deliver. What’s also very nice (to me, at least) about these guys, is that they sing with an accented English…bringing back some old-time autenticity to the whole!

I ain’t sure which songs are posted at myspace.com/strawberryblondes, so check that out, will you? Wwhat I càn tell you, is that the band will be doin’ a short tour on continental Europe (Czech Republic, Poland, Germany…brace yourselves), during February. They also already have a couple of festivals confirmed later on, like the Smash Tydeeh Festival at Belgium’s Tydeehin Mol on April 9, and the Rebellion Festival at Winter Gardens in Blackpool, UK in August.

I like these guys! In fact, very much so…and I feel they deserve the erection of a special “Roots Punk Rock” section in my year-lists, whence Fight Back shall have an honorary place, in spite of the modest rating I’m giving the album!!!

90/100

Tony.