- It’s no secret that I want to be Steph Crase’s friend. Her brand of gently forceful, intimate grunge is cool without the pretense. When she announced the release of her debut LP, Hello Friends for her largely solo project Summer Flake, I didn’t hesitate to read into the invitation. As much as I want to take this personally, you kind of get the sense Crase would prefer if everyone spoke the language of guitars and did away with the need to use words to communicate altogether. All throughout the ten track LP, which ranges from the upbeat turbulence of Wine Won’t Wash Away to the self aware melancholy of Shoot and Score, her voice is supported by layers upon layers of six-stringed “noodles”, the term she uses to describe her guitar driven expression.

Never holding back from the full fret board, Crase weaves each track together with well articulated guitar lines which never quite form discernable riffs. Actually this is an oddly hook free record, an invisible barrier filtering any pop proclivities from making their way onto Hello Friends. There are definitely themes built into each track, making for complex, fluid guitar parts. The exception is Satellite, which crops up just past the halfway mark. The delicate finger-picked riff makes for a light, calm backing to Crase singing ‘Kill me now’ repeatedly, managing miraculously not to sound whingy or glib. This probably has something to do with her burying lyrics behind those guitars, which are always slightly louder, so you don’t realise what she’s singing until a few listens.

The more optimistic moments on the album are personal favourites, with Make Your Way Back to Me is the most hopeful track, the least likely to have been recorded under grey skies. The record’s highs don’t last for long however, diving beautifully on the following track Tumbling Down where Crase turns off the amp and let’s her voice stand to the front in delicate echoing melodies. Just as proficient at creating space on an acoustic guitar, the wistful mood on Tumbling Down pervades even the more chipper tracks, but the way Crase spins her lyrics you’re never weighed down by the heaviness of it all.

The sheer amount of vocal tracking on each song is done without clutter, it’s as if you’ve stepped into Crase’s head and are listening to how she thinks. Which is creepy for her but nice for us because she can make dark thoughts and crappy feelings sound sweet. To compare Summer Flake’s sound to her ‘90’s alt/grunge forebears would suggest Hello Friends is derivative, which would be wrong, but I’m going to say for anyone who likes Liz Phair or Elliott Smith give this a spin. Listen once, you might miss the brilliance of this record. Listen twice and you’ll be carrying Summer Flake around in your head for a while yet.

- Grace Pashley.