Released: 2005
There used to be an advert on British tv for a car, where the people people trying to sell another type of car would talk about a comparative feature of it and would end every framing with “..Just like a Golf”. The point was an obvious one, that even though you could essentially make a copy of anything in the 21st century, authenticity was the still least replicable feature of anything.
Frontwoman of The Duke Spirit, by the time their debut album appeared singer Leila Moss had been compared to many people from Karen O to Patti Smith. But having built the group’s reputation on live performances that kicked over the statues of indie-rock diffidence, Cuts Across The Land was met on release with a muted response, the general hypothesis being it had been as much ideas as it was execution.
So who they? A coquettish stablemate of The Kills? PJ Harvey without the complications? On the album’s title track the question ended up not mattering. Moss howled it in, then turned the sinuous lyrics into a chant before hitting a tambourine in the chorus like your life depended on it, the intensity a tourniquet for doubters. What did it sound like? Like not much else, so go buy your own car.
The Voice Of Unreason 