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Rating:

Amongst all the glowstick-toting new bands that have recently emerged, one London-based act, The Svengalis, have strayed from the pack. Debut single 'Sting In The Tail' is, instead, a guitar based - but not a bad Arctic Monkeys or Libertines rip-off - jaunty little ditty that evokes summery 1950s pop tunes, but with a modern twist.

The opening guitar notes, which sound like carnival fanfare, set the stage for singer Mart Svengali's charismatic vocals - with "oh oh oh"s that go down as smooth as vanilla ice cream on a sunny day. From the opening notes until the very end of the song, 'Sting In The Tail' manages to maintain a steady, rockabilly-like, upbeat tempo without once losing its momentum. The result? A cheerful and utterly contagious song that'll have the kids sock-hopping à la Grease, rather than doing the 'robot'. Get ready to set your music player on repeat for this one.

'Sting In The Tail' is released as a single through Villains & Rogues on 12th March 2007.

Amanda Van West

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..> ..> Rockfeedback.com - 4 stars The Svengalis - Sting In The Tail (Villains & Rogues)

..> ..> If Dirty Pretty Things hadn't have been so stern on their debut album, they could have sounded half as good as The Svengalis do on their new tale of sun-kissed love woe 'Sting In The Tail'. Shorts and t-shirts at the ready as Cliff Richard's 'Summer Holiday' is perverted into 'Time For Heroes' and dangled above us as a catchy grit-floor tune that seems to good to be true yet salvos our ears in any case. A wicked-cool jumble sale of frolicsome fun is bewailed into what's fast becoming one of the most vital songs of any evening spent out on the tiles… and what's more is that it fits quite nicely at the start or end of the night, like a trashy power ballad that we all secretly enjoy...:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O /> The Svengalis are one of indie's best kept secrets (apologies for letting the cat outta the bag) and have gurgled beneath the surface for long enough to give them a feel for what makes us all happy. They've got songs that you can sing-a-long to with little forethought or qualms of uncoolness, and like numerous marching anthem makers before them they've got the white boys - who'd normally stand reservedly tapping a foot - throwing their bodies around like manic special bus riders it pits of abandoned expression. Such is their grasp of the idiosyncratic indie track that already they're summing up to be the next generations' Belle and Sebastian, a feat one would never have expected to be achieved. This song has the beauty and smartened glory of a frenzied pop classic and sets the bright lights of dancehalls afire with blinding anarchy and hypnotically controlling vocals and Maccabees-like cheerful proficiency. It's a well-timed detonation of disorder that sputters into your head and pickles your mind with good-humoured and entirely pleasurable clasps of manifestation that hail to the thieves of whatever good fortunes were smiling down on the band when they wrote, what's certainly among, one of the best songs of the year so far.

NEON BUZZ:

The Svengalis:
Sting In The Tail/Swimming Upstream

PURE GROOVE:
Sting In The Tale / Swimming Upstream
The latest in the army of young pretenders to the throne, but like Video Nasties, Cajun Dance Party et all, this London based act defy their tender years with winning songs. Already got a devoted fanbase, this is going to be one of our biggest of the year.

GIGWISE:

This London foursome set out on their mission to "hypnotise each and every one of us". A bold aim, but based on this debut double A-sider, they are on the way to succeeding. 'Sting in the Tale' is a story of doomed romance set to harmonies and jangly guitars; all the more glorious for its simplicity and is as infectious as a Bernard Matthews turkey.

Flip-side 'Swimming Upstream' keeps up the pace galloping along nicely. Built around a bouncing bassline and chiming keyboards, the stop-start melody is another example of this band's uncanny ability to write guitar pop songs that make you want to both dance and listen closer. The ghost of The Libertines may be present in these tunes, but the fact you ignore it speaks volumes about what they could achieve. Prepare to be hypnotised.

BABBLE AND BEAT:

It's an absolutely infectious little tune... and it appears to have stung us in the smackers with Botox as generous smiles have appeared to our faces as we "dance" around the room!

UNEARTHED TREASURES:

Many moon's ago, I heard a band called The Svengali's were being set up by a man regarding himself as Mart Svengali. Some basic acoustics songs were in place, but a band was needed to play them. Since then the said band has been founded and the songs have been played and recorded. Now it's time to release a debut single.

The double A side single launches into Sting In The Tale, a rioutous rockabilly song of fun and frolics shoved into 2 minutes 20 seconds. Swimming Upstream is much different, still fast paced but with a chunky bass line and a streaming keyboard apparent. The song will always be bursting out of the box you try to fit it in.

GODISINTHETV:

The Svengalis - Sting in your Tale/Swimming Upstream (Villains and Rogues)
Tim Miller

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.. If there's an abundance of anything in the world today, it's new bands. I can't see what it is in the instant rise and fall of upcoming bands, whose following breaks them into the mainstream or into the wider music consciousness, only for them to disappear from view again almost immediately, that appeals. The internet has allowed everyone their fair crack at audience garnering, but the internet music connoisseur doesn't have time for long term favourite bands anymore. They want new music every day, and once they've consumed, it's on to the next big thing for seconds. It is with this in mind that I approach debut material, but enough of the flirting with cultural criticism. The Svengalis (are they shoes?) release their debut single in time to build up industry awareness before the long hot summer kicks in – and it's a good piece of timing. The a-side Sting In Your Tale is a cheerful, helter-skeltering song, making use of a thoroughbred '60s chord sequence, vibrant guitars and a vocalist who sounds like a pre-cigarettes Carl Barât. The Svengalis, indeed, do seem to fit into that post-Libertines bracket, akin to Larrikin Love (cor, that's assonance) but with a summery atmosphere. The second track, or the b-side if this is, in fact, a split single, begins with a hint of The Jam's A Town Called Malice, but never quite follows that swagger; a strong straight beat provides the undercurrent to Swimming Upstream, a song tinted with the modern day disquiet evident in The Libertines' music, but translated through the toned down melodic stylings of clean ringing guitars, organ lines and urgent vocals. All in all, despite my opening paragraph, The Svengalis debut single is a pleasant, tuneful offering, leaning towards being positively feel-good with its bright production, and hopefully, The Svengalis might just be sticking around for the summer, and beyond. Released 12th March 2007

TASTY FANZINE: