The Strange Boys - The Strange Boys and Girls Club

Many bands have tried, and failed, to approximate a '60s sound. The Hives settled for a cartoonish pastiche; Oasis reimagined the Beatles and The Kinks as mod-ish neds; Lee Mavers went insane while apparently re-recording The La's debut album so it sounded more '60s (even going as far as allegedly insisting on putting dust back into the amps at Abbey Road to recapture The Beatles' sound). The Strange Boys, however, have not only succeeded where so many others failed, but have made it sound effortless, producing an album that sounds like Dylan fronting a rough-around-the-edges Stones. They're not a Noughties band nostalgic for a time before they were born, they're a garage-rock/R'n'B relic from a bygone age. While aping 'old' doesn't necessarily equate with being good, controversial little ditties like Should Have Shot Paul and No Way For A Slave To Behave show that the Strange Boys can certainly switch on the irreverent charm.