Strain

NME / Singles - 'man of the moment'

"WELL HERE'S a curious little bugger. Strain are three Helena Bonham Carter-eyebrowed, bottle-blonde snowboard instructors from Gloucester who come highly recommended by Kerrang!. The track is apparently about the Nietzschean glories of the eternal struggle between man and snowboard. What more do you need to know? It chugs and thunders in a relentless, utterly addictive monotone, ramming it's single killer riff so far down your throat that you can feel it in your toes. This is what 'Eye Of The Tiger' would sound like if it wasn't crap. I still think that snowboarders are twat-hatted trainspotters who probably say things like "rad" and "wicked" and think they're really hard because they drink Pepsi Max straight out of the bottle, but Strain prove that three of them at least are capable of rocking like gods."

Steven Wells

Scootering / ALBUM of the MONTH - No Butts or Luggs

"Gloucester based guitar fuelled trio Strain are already firm favourites at the Scootering editorial office. Their unrelenting, full-on, hardcore punk rock with melodic pop slant has that certain X-factor that so many wannabe pop stars can only dream about.

Strain’s music is probably better known than their name which is bizarre but true due to Strain tracks ‘appearing’ on almost every extreme sport programme on both domestic television and satellite and cable. Not forgetting that Strain songs have also featured on a host of videos, including snowboard action vids, the notorious ‘Berry on Bikes’, and five Strain songs are on the currently available Scooter Crazy video.

To date they’ve notched up three singles, Carried, Man of the Moment and Looking. Strain go about things differently to most whereas a lot of bands issue an album that includes previous singles, Strain’s debut has none. There is a new version of Carried, and their forthcoming single The Most Beautiful Girl in America is included, but it’s by and large all new material...."

Yup, whenever and wherever possible. Strain are definitely a live band. The whole band get very grumpy if they don't get to play often enough.

Being Brave / Fanzine Album Review

"The band mix serious pop tunes with a high energy guitar driven force that just leaves you breathless. I guess you could call it Pop Punk, but why limit it with name tags. This is just plain and simple top quality stuff. Top tunes one and all."