Who's In Your Dreams?

To those familiar with Matinée's singles catalog, Strawberry Whiplash will sound a whole lot like guitarist Laz McCluskey's solo project, Bubblegum Lemonade. To the uninitiated, Strawberry Whiplash will sound a whole lot like Tiger Trap, the Primitives, and Heavenly. This is, in other words, jangly, reverb-swathed pop, rooted in bands like the Velvet Underground and the Byrds and frosted over with Sandra's cool, unaffected vocals. No matter what they sound like, one thing is clear: Strawberry Whiplash's debut EP, 2008's Who's in Your Dreams?, offers a nice glimpse of this band's addictive, playful pop creations. Standout songs include "It Rains on Other Planets" (which makes a playful reference to Laz's solo project) and the title track, both of which are luminous with tambourines, keyboards, and Laz's frolicsome lyrics. It's ultimately the dynamic between Sandra and Laz that makes this little disc really shine; Sandra's shy, slight vocals offer the perfect counterbalance to Laz's buzzy guitar shamblings. This probably isn't the kind of music that will shake up the indie pop world with its ingenuity, seeing how there's plenty of sweet, buzzy, boy-girl indie pop that crops up from year to year. But it's not the kind that will go unnoticed, either. Good pop songs tend to stand the test of time, and Strawberry Whiplash have made some good pop songs.