Listen: JUCE – “Braindead”

Most modern girl bands that dominate the pop scenes tend to stem from that mid-90s explosion of “girl power” that kicked off with Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child. Moving up through the years, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, The Saturdays et al. have that same DNA in them, no matter how music shifts their sound as a whole. That’s why it’s odd to find Juce, a self proclaimed girl band who seem to have more !!! than Spice Girls running through their veins.

Cherish, Georgia, and Chalin, the three London lasses that make up Juce, sent the blogosphere into a real tizzy with just a bunch of 90s-esque promo shots and their debut single, “Call You Out”, last month. It was a slinky disco stunner that harked back to the vocal harmonies of some of the original girl bands (The Supremes, Sister Sledge) but with a nice little modern twist that was reminiscent of mid 2000s dance-punk . Their latest single, “Braindead”, lets that dance-punk feel shine, coupled with some tasty neo-soul vocals.

“Braindead” isn’t your regular little pop smash though. Made for “Call You Out” producer Dan Carey’s label Speedy Wunderground, it follows the strict ’24 hour’ rule all Speedy Wunderground releases follow. This means they are to be recorded and mastered within just 24 hours with no tweaking allowed after the time is up.

It seems Juce have used their 24 hours spectacularly; “Braindead” is packed full of undulating groovy bass lines, guitar rhythms and airy vocals that shimmer and shine as brightly as anything !!! or The Rapture would be proud to put their names to. It’s a track that seizes you by the shoulders, throws you onto the dancefloor and imbues you with the feeling that you could definitely be the best dancer on this nightclub floor. Moreish is an understatement.