After I reviewed the taster single 'Electric' for this album, my tongue in cheek comment 'The stuff that dreams are made of?' was cleverly quoted on the flyer for this full debut album as 'The stuff dreams are made of'. Amazing, the different context the absence of a question mark can make. But these things can so easily happen when you're in a rush to get something to the printers.

Scarlet Blonde (Dawny Viv and Ditch GBH) draw heavily on the pop melodies of the 80's synth scene to deliver a raw, under-produced retro sound deliberately aimed at 'pop music how it used to be, when it was played by a bunch of musicians rather than created by a team of producers'.

And to be fair, you can't knock the result - violent synth beats reminiscent of the 80s, catchy choruses and up front vocals. And on Fuse they show that they're no one trick ponies and can rock out with some great guitar work and some wonderful torch vocals. And One And One Makes Three could be a big rock ballad, while Safe is a delicate piano led ballad with a lovely melody and vocals. Addiction is just plain powerful, I Know broods, and Whenever Whatever is pure Miami Vice.

This may be back to basics fare, but d'you know what? 'The stuff that dreams are made of' may just have been right. There's inspired moments here and it knocks seven sorts of shit out of most of the indie based guitar based bands that are spouting from every other myspace page. Oddly addictive.

***½

Review by Pete Whalley