Flair and a certain originality
Disturbingly dark lyrics combined with a background beat that will have a demented version of the cartoon 'Pink Panther' crawling all over your mind opens up 'Paradise Park'. This is all held on target by vocals that have echoes of Lou Reed, David Bowie and Adam Ant among a host of others shimmering through them like brief glimpses.
To do all that and keep your head tight for the song is an achievement in itself, but the band then change tempo, go three piece punk thrash and emerge victorious after creating this melange and dipping in and out several times. There is also a shade of Franz Ferdinand and The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster here, but without any copy-cat accusations as this is C-Jags creation. Both of the numbers are reflections of the dark side of modern life, but they manage to make it all sound like some uplifting sexual experience. 'Please Please' is blatant in its reference point and there is an almost sado-masochistic tug and kick to its delivery.
C-Jags have a great sound here and although some may say that there is a nodding reference to the pop genre it doesn't affect the essential sound of what is yet another band on the scene at present that shows flair and a certain originality.