Amandah, the teenage singer for the Gold Coast high school five piece Cement has got pop savviness beyond her years. She knows when to curl her lip and when to punch a syllable, and while her adolescent cohorts may favour a frenetic sonic brew, but she sounds like she’s got all the time in the world. The young lady’s a star. But her ability to re-educate the Dolly audience isn’t as important long-term as the collective’s ear for smart, informative pop. Marshaled by producer Magoo (Regurgitator, Midnight Oil), the four cuts on their major label debut suggest healthy influences, from Dexy’s Midnight Runners on Two For My Seconds to the B-52s guitar licks of Waiting By The Car. Triple J favourite Get What You Want serves up the requisite sassy chorus, while Crash Tragic gives a kiss-off to a ‘disco bitch’. That’s a touch rich, because for all the vintage Farfisa organ tones, they’ve got an ear for danceable rhythms. The worse thing they could do is try to be serious, rock or a combination of the two. Best to leave that to their forthcoming secret admirers.
