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Spiderbaby: The Death of Spiderbay.

Fourpiece Spiderbaby are an interesting setup. A fairly new band playing the UK, "The Death of Spiderbaby" is their first EP, and at 8 Songs it is more like a mini album, coming with enhanced video and multimedia content too. Although not an obvious 'scene' band they have stuck their head above the Goth parapet, so let's take a look.

Now before I dive into the tracks you should be ware that there are two musical stakes which are always threating to destroy the glam-punk heart of Goth - Cheesey Industrial and Rawk / Metal. Spiderbaby could be accused of flirting with both of these, but I think they stay clear of falling in the embarressing mess that is most mainstream alleged 'Goth' music today. Sure they are by no means Deathrock or Batcave, if anything they are Glam, but they show a remarkable range.

First track 'The Great Audition' is an intro filler, fair enough. So we are keen to move onto 'Dead Chavs'. Now I am not sure about the subject matter here. Chav is a culture on the way out, and if you dress funny, be it glam, goth, punk or indie then you have always got hassle on the streets. But musically this is a catchy track. The vocal combination is strong, with Shannon's and Ashleigh's voices hitting a more punk edge over a sleazy rock musical underpinning. Yes the guitar chords chug away and there is one excursion into guitar twiddling towards the end of the track, which just stops short of being embarrassing , but the drumming is strong bringing together punk and metal techniques with a slightly tribal edge at points. Synths are also neatly done. I imagine this is a storming track live, and despite flirting with 'the enemy' (or at least Rob Zombie) the overall result is pretty fantastic.

The songs on the EP flow into each other (nice production job Nathan) 'Climbing the Walls' actually gives me goosebumps. A nice minimal EBM sequenced intro and when the guitars come in you might almost think they were going to hit industrial metal territory, but a delicious bass line (wish it was a bit higher in the mix) and synth work rescues the track and propels it to great heights. Catchy vox again, this is kind of glam punk at its best and had me reaching for my Rachel Stamp collection - actually listening to this song this band could be as good as Rachel Stamp. 2:39 and it is over; pity I reckon they could have pushed this a bit further with an extra verse, but they have got punk points with the EP's standout track.

'The Restless' has a kind of electro thing going on with tinkly guitars and a basic darker bassline. The sequencing work is really neat here, pulling in some neat 80's synthpop twists to deliver disco-goth. I would however like to hear Ashleigh sing lead on this one rather than Shannon 'Baby Doll' sounds very Android Lust, but it is nicely done. A slower electronic driven track and we get to hear Ashleigh's voice on its own. In fact this is soulful piece is a pretty good vehicle for her vocal talents, and with some indieish guitars this is very pretty indeed. A very different side to the band and touching lyrics.

'Crucify' I have to say I am not so keen on. The sequenced backing is nice and neat but I find the lyrics venture on the to the tacky side and the song doesn't really go anywhere apart from into a pity pointless guitar solo (shred not less you be shredded). I reckon this song speeded up and punked up would work a hell of a lot better - overall it just sounds unfinished compared to the other material.

'21st Vampire Fashion Show', a nice twee intro flows into some delicious acoustic guitar works, and I'm feeling a bit Bowie all of a sudden. Lovely vocals, the track picks up halfway through its length, although I keep wanting to sing "Five Years" over it. Can't complain about this track. 'Le Danse Des Femmes De Serpent De Mutant' is a bonus track. I will leave this one as a surprise for you. It is worth it. An instrumental track which really demonstrates this bands wide range.

The CD also has a video on of the band talking about the writing of the songs and some live clips as well as some promo shots. Which is a nice bonus.

So overall this is a pretty neat EP which flows smoothly from track to track. 'Climbing the Walls' is the high point, with 'Crucify' being the most disappointing effort. Is it Goth? Well I don't think they pretend to be, and yet they are in the neighborhood, much like Rachel Stamp. It is not all lipstick rock as the breadth in this EP shows, behind the PVC and eyeliner there is a huge well of music potential. I would like to see Spiderbaby at a few Goth gigs to get a feel for how they would go down.

Check them out - I imagine they are a ball live!

Spiderbaby: The Death of Spiderbaby

1. The Great Audition
2. Dead Chavs
3. Climbing the Walls
4. The Restless
5. Babydoll
6. Crucify
7. 21st Century Vampire Fashion Show
8. La Danse des Femmes de Sepent de Mutant (Bouns Track)

Spiderbaby on Myspace

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