Strawberry Whiplash is a (side?) project of Bubblegum Lemonade's Lawrence 'Laz' McCluskey which, whilst very similar in outlook, has a poppier edge thanks to the voice of vocalist and collaborator Sandra. As the cover hints, Stop, Look and Listen is an ode to the 1960s, specifically girl groups and surf music. It's packed to the rafters with catchy melodies and is sweet as cherry pie. Just make sure you don't gorge yourself on the indiepop disco floors! Flip over the delicious transparent red vinyl and you get two more excellent tracks. In The Blink Of An Eye is lovely swooning stuff which ends far too soon (is the title being ironic?) whilst final track Luck Is The Residue Of Design fast forwards two decades to 1980s Glasgow, being drenched in fuzzy pop inspired by the likes of the Shop Assistants, The Pastels and The Fizzbombs. Based on this corker of a 7" you can add Strawberry Whiplash to that roll call of fine bands.   --Sounds XP

 

Three more songs from the Scottish hit-making machine. The band is a collaboration between main songwriter Lawrence "Laz" McCluskey and vocalist Sandra. This is their 3rd ep (the previous ones were both on the Matinée label as well) and these three songs are his best. The title track is a near-perfect mid-tempo pop tune that comes crashing out of the gate with conviction and Sandra cooing love beads in the air while "In the Blink of an Eye" slows it down, if just a bit, but keeps the melody chugging; and "Luck is the Residue of Design" is more goodness. The Matinée track record continues.   --Blurt Magazine

 

It’s another Saturday morning, so time for another dose of jangle-pop. This week we go for the new single from Glasgow’s Strawberry Whiplash. It comes in the form of a 7-inch single for better aural absorption. The A-side Stop, Look and Listen is another slice of sugar coated jangle from the band, harvested from the same cane fields as early Primitives and Darling Buds records. The single serves as a preview of their upcoming album Hits In the Car and comes with two exclusive B-sides—the gentler In the Blink of an Eye and the chugging Luck Is The Residue Of Design, to further tempt you to part with your hard earned cash.   --The Finest Kiss

 

From the early days when the original C86 tape celebrated the eponymous scene that may or may not have even existed before it was named, Glasgow has been a sort of Fertile Crescent for all things indiepop. Even now, 25 years later, the Britain’s second city remains home to many of the premier indiepop bands, labels, and club nights. And out of that jangly come Strawberry Whiplash. Strawberry Whiplash have been featured here a couple of times in the past, so I won’t go into too many details, but for those who were not with us the last time Laz and Sandra made an appearance here (two years ago) here are the basics. Laz plays the instruments. Sandra sings. The rest you can probably guess from that introductory paragraph you read about 30 seconds ago. (Bonus fact: Laz also plays in Bubblegum Lemonade.) If you want to know more, you can go read those old posts or their page on the Matinée website. And you’ll probably want to be heading over to the Matinée site anyway to pick up a copy of ‘Stop, Look, and Listen’, the band’s new 7” and their third release on Matinée (not including a few compilation contributions). While their last release, the Picture Perfect EP, incorporated trace elements of shoegaze alongside jangly 60s guitars, ‘Stop, Look, and Listen’ owes more to the likes of the Shop Assistants and Talulah Gosh than to My Bloody Valentine. The powerful melodies and whimsically wispy female vocals are vintage C86, but at the same time, this isn’t exactly the amateurish shambling of your parents’ indiepop. This is melodic DIY at it’s best: upbeat, jangly, and unforgettably singable. And how nice it is that now, in the waning days of the year we put the nail in the coffin of indie rock, there’s still a haven for we, the Terminally Uncool, on the periphery of the crumbling Kingdom of Leon. It’s enough to make you want to pull out your best jumper and do that pseudo-running man indiekid dance in the most unironic way possible. The ‘Stop, Look, and Listen’ 7” is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies on transparent red vinyl and is available from Matinée Recordings as well of several independent record shops around the world (and internet).   --The Indie Handbook

 

It’s possible that I might have talked about Strawberry Whiplash too many times on these pages, but hey, at least I’m not trying to force Thom Yorke down your throats? Luckily for you, there’s great new news coming from our dear friends over at Matinée Recordings, who’ll be releasing the Stop, Look and Listen EP from the Scots sometime in December (I hope!). You’ve just got to love Sandra’s voice, and the strength of the production makes the band sound absolutely superb. For those of you who get lost in great pop music for days, this new track from our dearest Scottish band will have your head spinning.   --Austin Town Hall

 

Strawberry Whiplash's "Stop Look & Listen" 7- inch ep on Matinée is a bit of a (very juicy) taster from their upcoming debut album 'Hits In The Car" - as they say in the classics 'can't wait for that one".   --Everything, Alright!

 

No pain in the neck are these lovely Scots, oh, no, not at all and quite to the contrary. That title track from the forthcoming Matinée Recordings EP by Glaswegians Sandra (vox) and Laz (instruments) has us eagerly anticipating its December release.   --Powerpopulist

 

Strawberry Whiplash are a Scottish band crafting pop that sounds like it could have been on Subway or 53rd and 3rd. Is that a good thing? Yes, yes and yes. The new Strawberry Whiplash single is out now on Matinée Recordings.   --The Finest Kiss

 

Bubblegum Lemonade's sister band is back with a blast!   --The Jangle Drop

 

Socker, socker, mera socker – det ska vara sött som sockervadd doppad i jordgubbsströssel! Glasgow-duon Strawberry Whiplash gör popmusik som bara säljs i godisaffärer. Matinée Recordings gav ut denna sjua i slutet av förra året och om du inte fick den i julklapp bör du lägga den i påskägget!   --Our Favourite

 

Quando ricevo la mailing list della Matinée Recordings provo sempre la stessa fitta di nostalgia. Quella per un'epoca in cui seguire le band e le uscite era una faccenda quanto meno comprensibile, se amavi determinate cose. Tipo, ti affidavi a un'etichetta e quella ti portava avanti per anni, magari tra alti e bassi ma con coerenza. Certi cataloghi erano pezzi di biografia. Oggi, la notizia che il duo scozzese degli Strawberry Whiplash pubblica un nuovo 45 giri (rosso e a tiratura limitata) per la storica label californiana, e che questo è il preludio al debutto sulla lunga distanza (dopo due ep, il primo die quali di tre anni fa!) si perde in mezzo a mille altre, di certo più importanti ma che poco aiutano a sentirsi meno sparpagliati. Il fatto che il lato A si intitoli Stop, Look And Listen sembra quasi ironico.   --Polaroid

 

Strawberry Whiplash es uno de los proyectos paralelos de Laurence McCluskey, escocés de Glasgow más conocido como Laz y famoso en el mundillo indie por Bubblegum Lemonade, su banda principal, con la que ha facturado dos excelentes discos. Amante del noise pop noventero y de los grupos del sonido C-86, forma pareja aquí con la vocalista Sandra, habiendo editado ya sendos Eps bajo este nombre en 2008 y 2009. Llega ahora el tercero,"Stop, Look and Listen", publicado al igual que el resto de sus discografía a través del sello Matinée Recordings, y adelanto de un esperadísimo lp que llegará por fin a comienzos del próximo año. Te ofrecemos aquí la canción que le da título, una auténtica joyita pop.   --Stereo Pills