Album review: Poliça, Shulamith, (Memphis Industries)

Second album Shulamith (named after the feminist, Shulamith Firestone) is more of the same from Poliça – but with fewer hooks. Low-slung, dub-ish beats are appealing, though lead some tracks to Snooze Town.

Others are lively, even abrasive, with club-filler lazer zaps, siren wails and hyperactive synths under Channy Leaneagh’s lugubrious, languid vocals. These are once again strained through an effects processor; what’s lost in clarity is gained in distinctive aural stamp. Lyrics that do make it through show a ready-for-the-fight, personal-is-political feminism of their own; “So Leave” rails against being owned by a man, worn “like a lucky charm”. Sadly, this follow-up is a bit short on real gems itself, especially compared to the band’s debut.