Shrag

Shrag were a British post-punk-influenced indiepop band, based in London and Brighton. The band released three albums on the Where It's at Is Where You Are label,[1] the last a joint release on Fortuna Pop![2]

Shrag
Shrag in 2012.
Background information
GenresIndiepop, post-punk, riot grrl
Years active2003–2013
LabelsWhere It's at Is Where You Are, Fortuna Pop!
Associated actsComet Gain, Blue Minkies, Coin Op, Polak, Crest, Medicine & Duty, Puffinboy, Burning Idiot Noise, Passiondale, The Black Neck Band of the Common Loon, Summer Hunter, Sleeperbloke, Braer Rabbit, Union Wireless, Kellar, Crystal Stilts, Buffalo Pin
Past membersHelen King
Bob Brown
Steph Goodman
Russell Warrior
Andy Pyne
Leigh Anne Walter
Nick Hills

Formation and early years

Shrag's first release was the home-recorded song "Punk Grammar", which debuted on Under The Beach, A Heart Attack – a 2003 compilation album and fanzine of Brighton bands, put together by local club night It Came From The Sea, and featuring a foreword by the then Brighton-based music critic Everett True. The fanzine tells the story of Shrag's formation in a comic book format. At the tail-end of a party in Brighton's Sussex Heights residential tower block, the remaining five revellers – made up of local DJs, promoters, academics and musicians – decide to start a band, named Sussex Heights Roving Artists Group.[3][4][5]

Shrag continued to build a growing fanbase with steady touring, both supporting The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and headlining their own tours, but ongoing medical problems caused drummer Leigh Anne Walter to be replaced for many live performances by Medicine & Duty drummer Andy Pyne, who in 2009 became a permanent member of the band.[6]

Consequently, many of the tracks Shrag had originally intended to appear on their forthcoming album were either shelved or re-recorded by the new line-up, while new songs that the band began working on saw them turning away from the lighter, more poppy original template for the album into much darker and more introspective territory.[7]

The first single from Life! Death! Prizes!, Shrag's second album, was "Rabbit Kids", an anthemic love song which won the band significant mainstream radio play and plaudits in Pitchfork, All Music Guide and Drowned in Sound.[8][9][10] Musically the band had concentrated their musical range (which had previously drifted from B-52s-esque guitar pop to synth-led ballads) into more concise, driving rock songs, although a string section on the epic album closer Coda and the waltzy Furnishings showed a softer, more vulnerable side to the band. The album's centrepiece, "The Habit Creep" was a harrowing spoken word piece depicting an individual unravelling psychologically, and the download single "Ghosts Before Breakfast" represented the noisier, artier influences of bands like Prolapse and Life Without Buildings.[11]

Released in October 2010, Life! Death! Prizes! was equally as acclaimed as its predecessor and provided a platform for the band to perform in New York at the CMJ Music Marathon, and to record a BBC Radio 1 session at Maida Vale Studios.[12][13]

Canines

Shrag's third album, Canines, was released in July 2012.[2] Produced by Andy Miller, the album was released by WIAIWYA in conjunction with Fortuna Pop!.

This is how Helen described the new album: "We wrote 'Canines' between January and August last year in a long series of slightly fevered evenings ensconced in the shed at the bottom of Bob's garden. It's a pop record about bones and skin and cities and compulsions and love and confusion. It's a bit strange, but you can dance to some of it, and it makes a particular kind of sense to us, which feels very exciting".

"Tendons in the Night" (a split with Athens' Tunabunny), "Show Us Your Canines", and "Devastating Bones" were released as singles. A non-album 7" single, "Unseasonal Thoughts", was also released as part of WIAIWYA's 7777777 record club series.

Reviews have been positive with BBC Music calling particular attention to Helen's "exuberant use of language... an enjoyment of, and gift for, words," NME praising the band's "palpable songwriting muscle", and Drowned in Sound interpreting the album as a sign of big things to come: "With a bit more TLC and fine tuning around the edges, their piece de resistance may well be just around the corner."[14][15][16]

Shrag played a radio session for Marc Riley on 6Music on 2 January 2013, during which they announced they were to split.[17] Their final single was released on 11 February,[18] and their last gig was at London's Lexington on 15 March.[19]

Discography

Albums
  • Shrag (Where It's At Is Where You Are, 2009)
  • Life! Death! Prizes! (Where It's At Is Where You Are, 2010)
  • Canines (Fortuna Pop!/Where It's At Is Where You Are, 2012)[2]

Singles
  • "Pregnancy Scene/Mark E Smith" (2006)
  • "Intelligent Theft/Cupboard Love" (2006)
  • "Talk to the Left/Hopelessly Wasted" (2007)
  • "Different Glue/Lost Dog" (2008)
  • "Long Term Monster/Forty Five 45s" (2008)
  • "Rabbit Kids/Erratic Fictions" (2009)
  • "Tights In August" (2010 download single)
  • "Ghosts Before Breakfast" (2011 download EP)
  • "Tendons In The Night" (2012 split single with Tunabunny)
  • "Show Us Your Canines" (2012)
  • "Devastating Bones" (2012)
  • "Unseasonal Thoughts" (2012)
  • "On The Spines Of Old Cathedrals" (2013)
gollark: Yes, probably the military contractors.
gollark: I mean, the big tech companies around now are Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and to be honest probably some random Chinese ones I don't really know about.
gollark: Amazon Matrix.
gollark: Amazon Triangular Number
gollark: In the end, both are almost entirely wiped out, and the iArmies™ of Apple take over.

References
  1. John Jervis. "FPOP133 – Shrag – Canines". Where It's at Is Where You Are. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  2. Sendra, Tim (9 July 2012). "Canines – Shrag : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  3. "What does SHRAG stand for?". Acronym finder. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  4. Stuart Huggett. ""There's Worse Names Than Ours": An Interview With Shrag". Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  5. "Shrag – Life! Death! Prizes! – UK Tour Dates & Album Review | Buzzin Music". Buzzinmusicblog.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  6. Article written by Ged M – 11 February 2010 (11 February 2010). "Shrag Interview". SoundsXP.com. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  7. "Shrag – Life! Death! Prizes! (Where It's at Is Where You Are, 2010) | Under City Lights". Undercitylights.wordpress.com. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  8. Slater, Luke (27 September 2010). "Watch: Shrag – 'Rabbit Kids' / Music News // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  10. Tim Sendra (21 September 2010). "The Allmusic Blog " Video of the Day: Shrag, "Rabbit Kids"". Blog.allmusic.com. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  11. "Shrag – Life! Death! Prizes!". Thelineofbestfit.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  12. "Shrag @ Public Assembly: CMJ Friday". Music Snobbery. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  13. "Radio 1 Programmes – Huw Stephens, Shrag in Session and DIY Damaged Goods!". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  14. "Music – Review of Shrag – Canines". BBC. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  15. Gourlay, Dom (27 June 2012). "Shrag – Canines / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  16. "NME Album Reviews – Shrag – 'Canines'". Nme.com. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  17. "Shrag to split after last few shows". Thelineofbestfit.com. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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