A slice of Detroit old-school punk, out one onstling with intent. The rush of "Wretched Boy", the sha la las of "Snow A Sign Of Life" and the Who-styled chording on "Ain't That something are all truly endearing. Fronted by Josh Malerman and Mark Owen, with a Moon-esque basher called Derek Berk, The High Strung have every right to escape the lo-fi clutches of producer Jim Diamond and stride out for the summit. Hard to resist, too, an album that's got a song on it called "Rah Ra Rah!"
01 Wretched boy 02 Show a sign of life 03 Ain't that something 04 The world's smallest violin 05 Throwaway 06 It's on 07 Stares everywhere 08 The songbird 09 I got frustration 10 Cocksure 11 Real nice boy 12 Rah rah rah!