Midlands-formed, London-based, Stricken City are a
good old-fashioned indie band, just like they used
to make them back in the early to mid-80s. They're a
bit C81, that NME cassette you could send away for
with coupons and pennies back in 1981, with shades
shards, really, jagged echoes of female-fronted
groups like Young Marble Giants and Delta 5,
although they're less arty and abrasive than
Raincoats and scratchier and less rhythmic than the
Slits. They're also very C86, that mid-80s landmark
of sloppy, slapdash, shambling guitar-pop, while the
prettily dishevelled Rebekah Raa hiccups and
chirrups like indie girls should. There's some oomph
to their indie - they put the "ram" into ramshackle
but it's all very angular and amateurish. "We're
very mistakist," they say. They leave the faults and
fuck-ups in; they're part of their charm.