Strongbox ~ Anthems for the Friendly Fire Generation

Ground Kontrol CD

The first thing you notice when playing Strongbox's EP is that the laser reads the colour side and the silver side is placed facing up in the CD tray. Unfortunatly, this novelty is one of the most memorable things about the disc.

It’s not that Strongbox are bad – it’s an OK, kind of dark, kind of poppy EP – it’s just that there’s nothing strong enough here to grab onto. With lyrics about Prozac, and well-played but unoriginal arrangements, it doesn't seem that Strongbox want you to take them too seriously. But they’d better be brilliant at their gigs, or get a little sillier, or try for more profundity – something to add more spark and life to the music.

Strongbox have been compared to Blur, and previous Blur producer Fran Ashcroft produced the first two tracks, "Prozac Smile" and "Flaunt It Like This." It’s safer to say that if you dug through Blur's back catalogue of more obscure album cuts, you could find some resemblances. They've also been compared to T- Rex, but the latter had a singular, guitar-driven sound full of silly lyrics, much more 'Heads down with Nonsense Boogie' than bass-driven dance beat with riffs. But if you told someone that these were some lost later-era Love & Rockets tracks, they might believe you (no bets though, please). Seeing Strongbox live might result in a conversion, but on record they suffer from what some would consider the worst criticism of all: they're OK.  – Joel Jennings.

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