1982 4-Piece Demo
Strawberry Switchblade
1982 4-Piece Demo
Boomkat Product Review:
Night School re-press their landmark re-issue of Rose McDowell and Jill Bryson, a.k.a. Strawberry Switchblade’s 1982 demo tape. Bit of a holy grail for post-punks, new wave pop fiends and goths alike
“2025 sees a new pressing to acknowledge the enduring legacy of this recording. In 2024, the song Trees & Flowers became an unexpected hit on Tik Tok and introduced a new generation to these timeless songs. To acknowledge what I believe to be an Important Historical Document and also because people still wanna own it, we’ve repressed the sold out 1982 4 Piece Demo by Strawberry Switchblade. Like the other pressings, it comes with a booklet featuring photos from the period and a contemporary interview with Jill and Rose. Worth noting that the photos included all came from a contact sheet, the originals being lost to time, so they retain a sort of Xerox’d, rough quality. Will never not be blown away the band trusted Night School with this and it’s a source of huge gratification that so many people have discovered this band, these songs, from this humble wee release.
1982 4-Piece Demo” is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band’s mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn’t a complete picture.
Bryson and McDowall’s growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson’s art school background and McDowall’s history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band’s very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow’s Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it’s in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.
“Spanish Song” is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall’s instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson’s harmonies and lead guitar, it’s the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. Trees & Flowers is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it’s given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan’s playing is in fact accomplished and doesn’t hint at the bands’ youth. Go Away would also surface later on the band’s debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.
Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text from contemporary Stephen Pastel.”
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Boomkat Product Review:
Night School re-press their landmark re-issue of Rose McDowell and Jill Bryson, a.k.a. Strawberry Switchblade’s 1982 demo tape. Bit of a holy grail for post-punks, new wave pop fiends and goths alike
“2025 sees a new pressing to acknowledge the enduring legacy of this recording. In 2024, the song Trees & Flowers became an unexpected hit on Tik Tok and introduced a new generation to these timeless songs. To acknowledge what I believe to be an Important Historical Document and also because people still wanna own it, we’ve repressed the sold out 1982 4 Piece Demo by Strawberry Switchblade. Like the other pressings, it comes with a booklet featuring photos from the period and a contemporary interview with Jill and Rose. Worth noting that the photos included all came from a contact sheet, the originals being lost to time, so they retain a sort of Xerox’d, rough quality. Will never not be blown away the band trusted Night School with this and it’s a source of huge gratification that so many people have discovered this band, these songs, from this humble wee release.
1982 4-Piece Demo” is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band’s mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn’t a complete picture.
Bryson and McDowall’s growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson’s art school background and McDowall’s history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band’s very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow’s Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it’s in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.
“Spanish Song” is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall’s instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson’s harmonies and lead guitar, it’s the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. Trees & Flowers is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it’s given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan’s playing is in fact accomplished and doesn’t hint at the bands’ youth. Go Away would also surface later on the band’s debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.
Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text from contemporary Stephen Pastel.”
**Lossless format for this release contains 24 bit / 48 kHz audio**
Boomkat Product Review:
Night School re-press their landmark re-issue of Rose McDowell and Jill Bryson, a.k.a. Strawberry Switchblade’s 1982 demo tape. Bit of a holy grail for post-punks, new wave pop fiends and goths alike
“2025 sees a new pressing to acknowledge the enduring legacy of this recording. In 2024, the song Trees & Flowers became an unexpected hit on Tik Tok and introduced a new generation to these timeless songs. To acknowledge what I believe to be an Important Historical Document and also because people still wanna own it, we’ve repressed the sold out 1982 4 Piece Demo by Strawberry Switchblade. Like the other pressings, it comes with a booklet featuring photos from the period and a contemporary interview with Jill and Rose. Worth noting that the photos included all came from a contact sheet, the originals being lost to time, so they retain a sort of Xerox’d, rough quality. Will never not be blown away the band trusted Night School with this and it’s a source of huge gratification that so many people have discovered this band, these songs, from this humble wee release.
1982 4-Piece Demo” is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band’s mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn’t a complete picture.
Bryson and McDowall’s growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson’s art school background and McDowall’s history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band’s very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow’s Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it’s in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.
“Spanish Song” is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall’s instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson’s harmonies and lead guitar, it’s the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. Trees & Flowers is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it’s given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan’s playing is in fact accomplished and doesn’t hint at the bands’ youth. Go Away would also surface later on the band’s debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.
Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text from contemporary Stephen Pastel.”
**Lossless format for this release contains 24 bit / 48 kHz audio**
Boomkat Product Review:
Night School re-press their landmark re-issue of Rose McDowell and Jill Bryson, a.k.a. Strawberry Switchblade’s 1982 demo tape. Bit of a holy grail for post-punks, new wave pop fiends and goths alike
“2025 sees a new pressing to acknowledge the enduring legacy of this recording. In 2024, the song Trees & Flowers became an unexpected hit on Tik Tok and introduced a new generation to these timeless songs. To acknowledge what I believe to be an Important Historical Document and also because people still wanna own it, we’ve repressed the sold out 1982 4 Piece Demo by Strawberry Switchblade. Like the other pressings, it comes with a booklet featuring photos from the period and a contemporary interview with Jill and Rose. Worth noting that the photos included all came from a contact sheet, the originals being lost to time, so they retain a sort of Xerox’d, rough quality. Will never not be blown away the band trusted Night School with this and it’s a source of huge gratification that so many people have discovered this band, these songs, from this humble wee release.
1982 4-Piece Demo” is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band’s mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn’t a complete picture.
Bryson and McDowall’s growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson’s art school background and McDowall’s history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band’s very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow’s Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it’s in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.
“Spanish Song” is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall’s instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson’s harmonies and lead guitar, it’s the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. Trees & Flowers is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it’s given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan’s playing is in fact accomplished and doesn’t hint at the bands’ youth. Go Away would also surface later on the band’s debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.
Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text from contemporary Stephen Pastel.”
2025 re-press.
Estimated Release Date: 28 March 2025
Please note that shipping dates for pre-orders are estimated and are subject to change
Boomkat Product Review:
Night School re-press their landmark re-issue of Rose McDowell and Jill Bryson, a.k.a. Strawberry Switchblade’s 1982 demo tape. Bit of a holy grail for post-punks, new wave pop fiends and goths alike
“2025 sees a new pressing to acknowledge the enduring legacy of this recording. In 2024, the song Trees & Flowers became an unexpected hit on Tik Tok and introduced a new generation to these timeless songs. To acknowledge what I believe to be an Important Historical Document and also because people still wanna own it, we’ve repressed the sold out 1982 4 Piece Demo by Strawberry Switchblade. Like the other pressings, it comes with a booklet featuring photos from the period and a contemporary interview with Jill and Rose. Worth noting that the photos included all came from a contact sheet, the originals being lost to time, so they retain a sort of Xerox’d, rough quality. Will never not be blown away the band trusted Night School with this and it’s a source of huge gratification that so many people have discovered this band, these songs, from this humble wee release.
1982 4-Piece Demo” is the first official, fully-licensed and unreleased material to be released under the name Strawberry Switchblade in 30 years. Since disbanding amid major record label acrimony and personal differences in 1986, the already-cult band have since grown in stature and legend. Trailblazers in many ways, the band’s mythology justifiably centers around the charismatic duo of Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall, but that isn’t a complete picture.
Bryson and McDowall’s growing friendship, having met some years earlier on the punk scene, became a creative partnership: Bryson’s art school background and McDowall’s history in avant-punk group The Poets meant Strawberry Switchblade was a band pitted against many established norms. The band’s very first incarnation, an all-female 4 piece, recorded one demo at Glasgow’s Hellfire Club and played a handful of gigs. Friends Janice Goodlett and Carole McGowan completed the line up on bass and drums respectively. Strawberry Switchblade would eventually pair down to a duo and go on to chart success but it’s in these raw, passionate recordings that the songwriting and vocal elements were being hammered out and explored in real time.
“Spanish Song” is a previously unreleased song. With Rose McDowall’s instantly recognizable lead vocal dovetailing with Bryson’s harmonies and lead guitar, it’s the first glimpse at an alternative history of Strawberry Switchblade. This incarnation could easily have been featured on a Nuggets compilation or a precursor to the indie-pop revolution that would take over British bedrooms a couple of years later. Trees & Flowers is instantly recognizable, a bona fide classic that would earn the band its first record deal. Here it’s given a more forceful rhythm section: Goodlett and McGowan’s playing is in fact accomplished and doesn’t hint at the bands’ youth. Go Away would also surface later on the band’s debut LP but here it is a moody-garage stomper with a psychedelic, haunting refrain. These 3 songs point to a tantalizing future of the band that was never realized.
Remastered and restored by Sean Pennycook from the original cassette, with artwork based on a single photographic contact sheet (the only visual evidence of the band in this form) and with a booklet of photographs and new text from contemporary Stephen Pastel.”
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