Strawberry Whiplash feature members of Bubblegum Lemonade. Where as the latter take most of their cues from the 1960's Strawberry Whiplash take theirs straight from the sounds of 1980's indie-pendent Scotland! Who's In Your Dreams has echoes of the fuzzed up bands of Scotland's past such as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Meat Whiplash and The Shop Assistants. The bands influences from the C86 era reign supreme throughout the EP. The jangle pop chords of Jesse Garon are evident on It Rains On Other Planets. On the EP's other two tracks you can clearly hear elements of girl fronted jangle pop bands of the era and on the twee-ish Factory Girl singer Sandra sounds uncannily like The Shoppies Alex Taylor. This is an EP which wears it's influences on it's sleeve as well as being coming from the heart. Fuzzin' well buy it! The Who’s In Your Dreams? CDEP is out now on Matinée Recordings. It can also be found on i-tunes.   --Indie-mp3.co.uk

 

Hazy, dreamlike vocals are backed by a wall of static guitars in this up-lifiting and joyous release from Glasgow’s Strawberry Whiplash. Sandra, Laz, Paul and Duncun all pay fitting tribute to 80s shoe gazer bands such as Jesus And Mary Chain and indie pop acts like St Etienne- with gorgeously fuzzy results. It’s an EP which is easy to love with its hand claps, synths and simple harmonies all forming winding round echoing, reverberating guitars in these hip shaking gems, whilst the simple, almost childlike ‘My Day Today’ is pure pop perfection. Lovely stuff!   --Is This Music?

 

As with most of the bands on the indie pop Matinée label, it’s apparent that the C-86 movement was a huge deal to the members of Strawberry Whiplash. The Glasgow duo of Sandra and Laz, who also record under the name Bubblegum Lemonade, crank the fuzzboxes up to 11 and put as much reverb on the drums as humanly possible. This EP’s title cut has Sandra tossing out ‘Ba-ba-ba’s” while Laz adds the musical equivalent of cotton candy to the proceedings. “It Rains on Other Planets” is all tambourines and good vibes, while ‘My Day Today’ has some of the best roller-rink keyboards since the first Soup Dragons record or early Talulah Gosh.   --Magnet Magazine

 

Of the new Matinée brace, it's Strawberry Whiplash's "Who's In Your Dreams?" which is the amazingest, we think. Indeed, its fantastic fuzziness and singer Sandra's clipped vocal delivery make us think of another superlative Glaswegian single, Baby Lemonade's "Secret Goldfish", that Narodnik 7" from aeons ago, variously described as "my awakening" (Are You Scared To Get Happy?) and "badly produced" (Woosh!), that got a welcome re-release on CD-R thru Egg Records rather more recently. "Who's In Your Dreams?", just like "Goldfish", shambles. Not in an unrefined way, not in a bad way, certainly not in an "underproduced" way: it's just a happy, gargling stream of revivalist ba-ba-ba's, of gargantuan guitar melodies, of Bubblegum Splash-style thudding drum n' bass, which peaks with the marvellous conceit where they use the ba-ba-ba's, instead of the guitars, to do the melody in the break. And all this even before you contemplate the rest of the EP, which includes the wonderful "Factory Girl", where early-Primals guitar stylings elide into a girl-fronted acoustic Mary Chain; the smiling popfulness of "It Rains On Other Planets"; and the shimmers of sunlight feedback on "My Day Today". Not that there's quite enough feedback, of course. There's never yet been a record with enough feedback. But the real trick, of course, will be if Strawberry Whiplash can follow up this rather spiffing start with something else just as admirable - the way that Baby Lemonade managed to give us both "Secret Goldfish" (cherubim) and "Jiffy Neckwear Creation" (seraphim). If they can, then there's gonna be drama.   --In Love With These Times In Spite Of These Times

 

To those familiar with Matinée's singles catalogue, Strawberry Whiplash will sound a whole lot like guitarist Laz McCluskey's solo project, Bubblegum Lemonade. To the uninitiated, Strawberry Whiplash will sound a whole lot like Tiger Trap, the Primitives, and Heavenly. This is, in other words, jangly, reverb-swathed pop, rooted in bands like the Velvet Underground and the Byrds and frosted over with Sandra’s cool, unaffected vocals. No matter what they sound like, one thing is clear: Strawberrry Whiplash's debut EP, 2008's Who's In Your Dreams, offers a nice glimpse of this band's addictive, playful pop creations. Stand-out songs include “It Rains On Other Planets” (which makes a playful reference to Laz's solo project) and the title track, both of which are luminous with tambourines, keyboards, and Laz's frolicsome lyrics. It's ultimately the dynamic between Sandra and Laz that makes this little disc really shine; Sandra's shy, slight vocals offer the perfect counterbalance to Laz's buzzy guitar shamblings. This probably isn't the kind of music that'll shake up the indie pop world with its ingenuity, seeing how there's plenty of sweet, buzzy, boy-girl indie pop that crops up from year to year. But it's not the kind that'll go unnoticed, either. Good pop songs tend to stand the test of time, and Strawberry Whiplash have made some good pop songs.   --All Music Guide

 

Leave it to indie-pop stalwarts Matinée Recordings to keep the EP going strong as a format, even if now it's all CD-EPs instead of vinyl. There's something unexplainable, really magical, about putting on a great short recording, where songs captivate you and then disappear. Even better if there's eye-catching artwork, a memorable photo or graphic image. So far this year Matinée has released four EPs by newer bands, keeping that mystique going while building their roster of bands with a genuine grasp on the art of crafting a song plus an equally strong awareness of pop/rock music history. Strawberry Whiplash's Who's In Your Dreams tints a guitar red on the cover, an appropriately bright, fun image. The title track is pure ear candy, with singer Sandra bouncing through ba-ba-ba melodies while Laz, who plays all the instruments, turns up the noise quotient with the guitar, balancing things out nicely. "It Rains on Other Planets" picks up the task next, followed by the sweet "My Day Today". Both feel still like perfect A-sides, making it easy to imagine a Strawberry Whiplash album of non-stop hits. Closer "Factory Girl" slows the pace down and plays up the retro factor a little. Strawberry Whiplash do sound retro in a way, looking back to the '60s as much as to the '80s. But they also sound absolutely fresh, with dynamite songs to put some sunshine on your day.   --Erasing Clouds

 

Like the female foil to Bubblegum Lemonade's debut Matinée EP that recently passed through my review pile, Strawberry Whiplash's Who's in Your Dreams is the work of a Glaswegian act that pays heavy debts to the thick, syrupy pop of the '80s and the halcyon days of lo-fi bedsit recordings. S.W.'s chops aren't as tightly wrought as their countrymen's, but the roughed up electric guitar strum on "It Rains on Other Planets," the slightly arrhythmic synth stabs, and the feedback strewn chorus of "My Day Today" appeal to the tossed-off charm that The Pastels and the rest of the C86 off-shoot of post-punk built their following on. "Factory Girl" is somehow a simplified version of the other tracks' messy fun, yet more anthemic and insistently romantic; it feels like a distant cousin to Jesus and Mary Chain's classic "Just Like Honey." It's just wonderful. Let's have that full-length soon, eh?   --Ink 19

 

Even today, in this age of internet and file sharing, my favorite way to discover new music is to frequent local record stores, the mom and pop kind of operations where you can bring your coffee and chat with the staff for hours at time. Here in Athens, we're blessed with Wuxtry, a true institution since 1976. I stopped there a few days ago as Mike was working, to show off my shiny new hot pink cellphone and its Wired up ringtone (how tacky is that ?). Mike greeted me with a smile and a "you gonna love that" light in the eyes. And he was right. Strawberry Whiplash is Laz on instruments and Sandra on vocals. Our duo just released their first EP, "Who's In Your Dreams", once again on Matinée, and once again four little jewels that'll stick with you all this summer. I know it's only February, but their "feeback wall of sunshine sound" and a song like "It Rains On Other Planets" will disperse winter clouds and make flowers grow around your steps. Ten seconds were enough for me to fall head over heels.   --A Hipster's Progress

 

As anyone who has ever been to Glasgow will testify it is not really one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities in the world. Much of the beauty occurs underground you see and no they don’t have a tube or metro system. Glasgow achieves this by punching above its weight in the here comes another great indie band department. Strawberry Whiplash are typical of the exciting fare on offer. Sandra and Laz may be slow to release their surnames to the expectant media but they nonetheless pour their insides out to coin endless classics. I mean ‘Who’s In Your Dreams?’ could have kept Sarah Records in cheap microphones for decades all on its own. It is a fuzzy delight, overdosing in sweet bah bah bah’s and drums that while pounded have a certain timedness.   --mp3 hugger

 

Jimmy, el jefe del sello, cuida la cantera, y Escocia sigue siendo un paraiso pop. Sis u reciente fichaje reconoce afiliacion a sonidos de fin los ochenta, inicios de los noventa (Primitives, Shop Assistants) ya estan retratandose. Aunque pega ‘Who’s In Your Dreams’, pide paso ‘Factory Girl.’   --Calle 20