Teenage Kicks
While most 14-year-old girls are discovering the joys of chasing boys, stealing their parents' cigarettes and avoiding ASBOs, Poppy and the Jezebels are being preened for a life of stylish stardom. The girls' debut, 'Nazi Girls' is a cool number that swaggers and has a definite punk cool to its wandering bassline, unfortunately the chorus' jangly keyboard accompaniment and the girls' naturally youthful voices makes this segment sound a bit like a school play extract, especially with the simplistic lyrics, "Right, left, right." Thankfully the rest of the tune manages to steer clear such childish slips, while 'Painting New York On My Shoes' is a careful, shoegazing number with a wistful maturity that could crush the playground antics of plenty of today's 'It' indie bands.
Hopefully Poppy and the Jezebels will continue to develop their sound and in a few years, when they lose the teenage gimmick, they may be impressive performers.