You Skrimped And You Saved What Was Free

Shrag @ Cake Shop 10/17/2006
Intelligent Theft / Mark E Smith / Cupboard Love / Intro / Talk To The Left / Lost Dog / Hopelessly Wasted / Pregnancy Scene

Shrag “Hopelessly Wasted” – The Brighton, UK based quintet Shrag made their first appearance on this site back in February of 2004, and in the time since have slowly transformed themselves from a one-off project into a proper indie punk band that can, y’know, come and play a few shows in North America when they are all on holiday. They are still bit rough around the edges as a live act, but only in the most winning way possible — old school DIY spirit and self-deprecating banter goes a long way when you’ve got tunes and unforced charm. Most of their set focused on bratty, brittle punk tunes that were sweetened up by the voices of the female members of the band, most especially lead singer Helen, whose demeanor and appearance onstage resembles that of a shy yet visably annoyed middle school girl. The group saved the bitter break-up ballad “Hopelessly Wasted” for the end of the set, revealing a softer, more vulnerable side of themselves before kicking into a particularly vicious reading of their best-known song, “Pregnancy Scene.” There was no “Punk Grammar,” but in spite of my sentimental connection to that song, I didn’t really miss it that much, especially not when the catchy new song “Talk To The Left” is nearly its equal. (Click here for the Shrag MySpace page. Readers in Toronto should note that they are playing the Silver Dollar Room on October 20th.)

Elsewhere: Chunklet has some extremely rare live tracks by Chavez, including a pretty fantastic version of my favorite song in their catalog, “The Guard Attacks.”