slumberland records

keeping it foolish since 1989

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Tender Trap are now a proper girl-group! Neither Talulah Gosh nor Heavenly (Amelia's previous bands) had this much vocal harmony going on. With two extra girl voices (from new guitarist Elizabeth and new drummer Katrina) this great new single combines the harmonies, oohs, ahs and sha-la-las of classic girl-pop with the stripped down beats and dirty guitars of the Shop Assistants and The Vaselines.

In contrast with earlier Tender Trap, which had a more electronic bent, the new revitalized 'Trap has stronger links to the pop lineage of its founder members; Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey were in influential indiepop originals and John Peel favorites Talulah Gosh and Heavenly, who released records on such indiepop labels as Sarah Records, K and Stephen Pastel's 53rd and 3rd. Revered by today's revitalized indiepop scene, their records are floor-fillers at indie dance clubs and their influence can be heard in bands such as Los Campesinos! (who namecheck Amelia in their song "International Tweexcore Underground") and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

"Do You Want A Boyfriend," taken from the band's upcoming album Dansette Dansette, is a perfect chunk of pop, but it's not as innocent as it seems - it celebrates the girl-pop phenomenon, but deconstructs it too. Amelia sings in response to Katrina and Elizabeth's increasingly intimate questions about boyfriends. Her answers stray well outside the standard girl-group territory. The punk-rocking flip side "The Sum and The Difference" is the closest Tender Trap have come to Talulah Gosh; while guitars and drums rush by in a blur, Amelia and Elizabeth harmonize sweetly, contemplating whether to kiss or kill another unreliable partner.