You would be forgiven for thinking that the dreaded "grunge" word was simply the bane of a cadre of cock rock straw-clutchers who clung onto the latest bandwagon with broken, painted nails as they made their way to the nearest thrift store to buy up every piece of in-vogue plaid on offer, all the while waiting for their fringes and goatees to grow.....

No, I'd have a cultured stab at suggesting that several of the grubbier bands existing on the edges of what they would have described as the punk and hardcore scenes must have balked at the idea that they were suddenly a part of this latest mass media marketed movement. But the history books tell any inquisitive types that the rock music of the...umm....'difficult' Nineties was dominated by the grunge scene and its heroin addicted heroes, starfucker frontwomen and fucked-up fashionistas who made the decade bearable for manufacturers of cardigans.

But the 'Twenty Year Cycle' rule, which for the past several years had seen a new breed of hair metallers scouring eBay for looky-likey lycra, now provides the music world with a batch of new outfits more than happy to throw the 'G' word out there when asked to cite their vibe, sound, look or attitude in general. Japanese Voyeurs are one such band. Destined to be formally shackled with many Hole comparisons - when they do not sound particularly similar to that band - due to the fact that they are fronted by a female, Japanese Voyeurs will pick at the scab of success for that very reason; Romily Alice, with a voice that veers from fractured to ferocious with staggering ease, will always be the focal point of the band, and rightly so.

With the kinda looks that make marketing types almost grow a soul, Alice could easily find her way onto the bedroom wall of many a UK teenager, either as a role model or a five-tissue fantasy; blunt maybe, but true. This is a music review after all so is there anything here sonically to back up the inevitable pin-up status sure to be afforded to the singer? Thankfully, yes.

So what if 'That Love Sound' follows that well worn path so frequently trodden by the ghosts of this genre? The quiet verses that explode into grimy life come chorus time are edgy and uneasy enough to drive this band all the way to cult status.....maybe beyond. If bands like Rolo Tomassi - described by two unnamed Über Röck writers as the worst band that they have ever seen - can be loved, lusted after and arse-kissed by the music media of this confused age, then Japanese Voyeurs can expect the same kind of treatment at least. With a haunting hook that'll stick in your head like a shotgun pellet, 'That Love Sound' is more than a little decent. 'Blush' initially appears to follow the same kind of formula but quickly morphs into a dirty riff-laden, bass heavy two hundred seconds of brooding angst.

This Double A-Side single - glad to see that a vinyl 7" is one of the release formats as I've always had trouble turning over digital downloads - on the band's own Slimeball Records label, is as good an introduction to Japanese Voyeurs as you could expect. With a debut album being readied for the near future, this is a band whose next few moves I will watch with interest.......

www.myspace.com/japanesevoyeurs