Pete Doherty‘s sister has a lot to live up to, of course, although some would say she’s already achieved that with the AmyJo Doh & The Spangles‘ fine debut, 2017’s Calle De The Spangles. I would argue that this was merely a taster for what would become Spangle Landia seven years later. More assured, feistier, and more immediately effective.
Sure, you would be forgiven, as the opening strains of ‘Rock N Roll‘ come bursting in, for pointing out the similarity in the guitar work to Pete’s band The Libertines, but once the vocals start, we’re transported back to the 1970s with an early Blondie candour that is at once arresting and energetic, before ‘Robert De Niro‘ (the song, not the actor) introduces a kind of ska vibe that conjures up memories of The Selecter, above all, with little moments here and there that recall early Madness and The Specials, especially on the latter band’s second long player, More Specials. It’s quite delightful.
Borrowing a title from Suggs and co, (exclamation mark notwithstanding), ‘Shut Up!‘ reminds me of the punk feminist band The Poison Girls, who are sadly all but forgotten these days, so it’s fantastic that AmyJo is bringing that sound bang up to date with Spangle Landia, and it’s also a pleasant surprise when this is followed by the hazy, atmospheric guitars of ‘The Highwayman’s Waltz‘, ballad-like at first but then it briefly flirts with a Free type instrumental rock out before deciding against it and gently fizzling out. And as much as I think Free were a great band, I love that this song does that!
The menacing beginning of ‘Rats‘ has a kind of Ruts feel about it, then a Spanish guitar motif appears out of nowhere and eventually a vocal from Amy that lies somewhere between X-Ray Spex‘s Poly Styrene and Lene Lovich. This is what I love about AmyJo Doh and The Spangles – they’re pretty damn unpredictable, but then I guess that goes with the territory of being a Doherty, right?
The band’s 2020 single ‘Smile & Dance‘ (Spangle Landia is made up of various tracks from their EPs) is an obvious highlight, easy to lose yourself in: “Come on and smile like you have never smiled before / and dance like it’s your first time on the dancefloor. Let the music bounce your cares away / Smile and dance ’cause you’re here anyway” – and those lyrics perfectly describe the feeling you get when you’re listening to the song. Not many artists can convey such things quite so precisely.
What’s interesting is that, despite its apparently ramshackle construction from previous releases, Spangle Landia actually fits together extremely well and holds up as a proper album in its own right.
I, for one, am excited to see where AmyJo and her band can go from here.
Spangle Landia is out now on Strap Originals.
