Being a resident of Edinburgh I’ve been lucky to see The Nettelles play most of their gigs here, and was certainly in attendance at their first and last shows. It was always a pleasure to see this band live because of their contagious energy in doing what they did best; playing trashy girl-gang garage-punk. In this small city they were the band I had always looked up to and the band I wanted to be in. "Do You Believe In..." (released on the Norwegian label, Back To Beat Records) is a fantastically put together LP; artwork by friends Danny Carr & Bruce Brand and the sleeve notes, written by Lenny Helsing, are a fitting tribute to singer/songwriter and guitarist Clare Campbell, who sadly lost her life following a long battle with cancer in August this year. With production by Russ Wilkins plus offspring and partners helping with vocals and photography and recorded at band member Angus McPake’s prestigious Ravencraig Studios, this LP is truly a family affair. Onto the music, and there’s a few choice covers inside the tangerine fuzz forest if you dare to delve in, notably a cracking version of "Get Off The Road" from Herschell Gordon Lewis’s 1968 exploitation flick "She Devil On Wheels" and ‘66 garage-snarler "You Lied To Me Before", originally by The Treez. For me, it’s their self-penned songs where they really shine, and sting. I honestly cannot pick a favourite, but if you like proper garage-punk, then you should go and buy this record because it will not disappoint. Songs like "I Don’t Want To Talk To You", "You Better Go", "I’m Over You" are full of attitude, and I know that Clare was a huge fan of garage big sisters The Brood and The Pandoras (pre-hard rock phase), and I can hear their influence in her songs. Tracks like "Wasn’t Meant To Be" and "Baba Yaga" are both angsty teen rants. The darkly psychedelic sounds (think The Red Crayola rather than Sgt. Pepper) of "The Incredible Disappearing Woman" clearly has a deeper message. Overall, it’s rollocking good Rock 'n' Roll, no frills and no gimmicks required. Get yourself stung!
- Ms Sheringham-Boom, December 2020
You can hear The Nettelles debut single "We Are The Nettelles" (released on Spinout Nuggets Records) in Episode 31 of Retrosonic Podcast. Listen/stream/download directly below:
All proceeds of the LP will be donated to Clare’s nominated charities, MacMillan Cancer Support and Girls Rock School Edinburgh. You can order the album from The Nettelle's web-site here or from the Back To Beat Records Bandcamp site here. With thanks to Ms Sheringham-Boom. Ms Sheringham-Boom is the bassist in Edinburgh's premier purveyors of Garage Rock, Thee Girl Fridays.
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