Nature Creates Freaks

Nature Creates Freaks is full of frenzied angst, with gut-wrenching vocals and the kind of thrash guitar that make you fear for the band's body parts. Cay look to the Sonic Youth-led tradition of American, and particularly New York, underground rock, so it's a suprise to discover that they're actually British.

With her deep rich voice and yen for almost stoned-sounding vocal dischords, Cay's front girl Anet is refreshingly ungirly. There's more than a nod to Hold and Nirvana in the music, which, to be honest, is sometimes just too loud and intense for my head (I find the choruses in songs like 'Reasonable Ease in Chilled Out Situations' bordering on the tortuous). Fortunately, Cay balance the insanity out with relatively subdued tracks like 'Nature Creates Freaks', 'Dragonfly' and the experimental 'Speed'.

File under: well worth a listen.