The Strypes started out as
Dr. Feelgood wannabes back in 2013. Four years later on
Spitting Image, the quartet has ditched the gritty blues-rock and slapped on skinny ties -- a transition that makes sense, since it took the U.K. four years to move from pub rock to new wave.
The Strypes make no bones about their change in attitude, giving the cover to
Spitting Image hip, bright colors vaguely reminiscent of Barney Bubbles' artwork for Stiff Records, copping the "Another Girl Another Planet" riff for "Turnin' My Back," and tipping their hat to
the Buzzcocks by writing a song called "A Different Kind of Tension." Such explicit allusions are part of the fun of
Spitting Image, which is easily the best new wave album of the new millennium. Part of the fun of
Spitting Image is that
the Strypes play with the enthusiasm of the newly converted; these might be old sounds, but the way they bash out the hooks, it's as if they've discovered them for the first time.
The Strypes studiously avoid anything that's a bit too punky -- they're much more likely to settle into a bit of a funky groove reminiscent of
Graham Parker & the Rumour or
Elvis Costello when he was backed by
Clover -- and that's their appeal: intentionally or not, they're celebrating the new wave pop sounds that have fallen out favor in the retro mania era. That's why
Spitting Image works so well. It may be a throwback, but it's done for the love of the music, not the desire to be hip. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine