Velvet Hammer

SCRAWL: “Bloodsucker” (Southern Studios)/“Velvet Hammer” (Simple Machines)

Scrawl are very special. They’re from Ohio and they’ve been around for a while. (Kim Deal – ex-Pixies, Breeders – when asked if she found it hard being a girl rocker in Ohio, responded: “No way! Ohio! That’s Scrawl’s state!”)

For the re-released Bloodsucker they were an all-female trio. But for Velvet Hammer they have Dana (that’s a man) Marshall on drums. If you had to fit them into a category then riot grrrl would just about do. But really, Scrawl can’t be labelled. They are quite simply a magnificent group. These two albums, I firmly believe, will be selling in twenty years time. How many other groups can you pay that compliment to?

Bloodsucker is a mini-album, some twenty minutes long. Twenty minutes of majestic pop/rock ‘n’ roll with dark melancholy beneath its confident melodies and understanding harmonies. It has a rough-edged Steve Albini production, which provides it with the necessary grit on which its often disturbing lyrics lay and wait.

For me, the standout track is ‘Please Have Everything’. It floats in on waves of melancholy, reminiscent in its stark and simple honesty, of The Velvets’, ‘Pale Blue Eyes’. “Please have everything/If there’s anything I can say or do/Just let me know and if I can do it/I’ll give it all to you.”

Velvet Hammer is a stunning full-length album. Marcy Mays’ lyrics are as good a poetry I’ve heard this or any other year. Her voice is raw and almost hoarse on ‘Face Down’. But then on the next track, the beautifully melancholy ‘Tell Me Now, Boy,’ it aches with melody.

Every song on Velvet Hammer has a story, every story an intriguing insight. Marcy Mays has the rare ability to look at a situation/relationship and understand its core. The musical backing is bare, minimal. But it is always appropriate and intelligent. It works with the lyrics to create songs which will be loved as long as good music is listened to.

• Gerry McGovern