She's Hit – Pleasure

The debut LP from Glaswegian quintet She’s Hit is a narcotic brew of surf / garage and psychobilly that swaggers and spits from start to finish. The overdriven blend of tremolo-bending, reverb-soaked guitars, piano, and David Wilson’s louche vocals dips into influences including The Birthday Party (no surprises – the band take their name from a track on Junkyard), Gallon Drunk and The Cramps. Less predictably, songs like Young Love Dead overlay that foundation with the driving noise of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy.

She’s Hit also know how to slow things down without sacrificing intensity. Lustless is a melancholy meditation on love and dependency, sung by guest vocalist Jen Paley and backed by a swirl of guitar noise that is kept low enough in the mix not to overshadow things. Such tracks are the exception, and the harsh-edged production that dominates elsewhere can grate at times; but it is also key to Pleasure’s cohesion and intensity. [Sam Wiseman]