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| contents | singles - current and forthcoming releases... |
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Utterly fantastic uptempo joyous sound from a band briefly climbing out of their usual bleak Radiohead shadows. It combines the best of 90s U2 and James, borrows from Procul Harem’s Whiter Shade of Pale, builds with layer upon layer of added sounds and leaves this writer at least, quite exhilerated. Seven minutes of pure listening pleasure. Reviewed by mawders NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Letter from an Occupant (Matador) Superb catchy hi-energy power-pop accompanied by fabulous female vocals and full stomping keyboards. Wonderful! Great B-sides too. Look out for the album out in a couple of weeks time from this excellent American band. Reviewed by mawders RACHEL STAMP Black Cherry (Stirling) Rachel Stamp are trying way too hard to get noticed with their feather boas and make-up. Unfortunately what they should of course be addressing is their tediously unadventurous tunes. The pick of these three, Executioners Nightmare Song is a beefier Start Me Up by the Stones and if you’re going to start plundering from the greats you should really pick the right era to thieve from. Reviewed by mawders HOGGBOY Shouldn’t Let the Side Down (s.o.b.r.i.e.t.y records) This is the second single from a tipped Sheffield 4-piece. It’s a terrific garagey number, borne musically from the same places as the Strokes but with the physical appearance of the leather clad biker boys BRMC. Buy this and catch them live now. Reviewed by mawders THE CRESCENT On the Run (Virgin) Wonderful cocky rock n roll, part early Oasis and part early 70s Who by a bunch of Scouse scallies. It’s all fairly familiar and at four and a half minutes the single version could probably do with being a minute and a half shorter but nevertheless it’s still a cracking debut that makes you want to hear more by them. Reviewed by mawders SAMURAI SEVEN Lucky Pierre (Rotator) Great name for a band but only marginally above average indie guitar ditties for tunes. Reviewed by mawders THE DIRTBOMBS Brucia I Cavi EP (Hate Records 7”, Italy) / High Octane Salvation (Sympathy for the Record Industry 7”) The Italian import single sounds like it was knocked off in a tea break: four short rocky tracks, no RnB influence, with “Temp” a piece of thrashmetal clocking in at barely a minute. “Insecure…Me?” is the standout, guitars sounding like chainsaws cutting down a rainforest. “High Octane Salvation” is a single from 1995, now repressed and reissued by SFTRI. It’s a part-gospel, part-rockabilly hymn to the automobile: “fill her up with the power of God!” Amazing energy and clear to see that they came from the same place as the White Stripes. B-side “Broken in Detroit (again)” is a great piece of 60s garage punk with amazing echoey guitar. Not crucial but well worth hearing and Rough Trade will have them. Reviewed by Ged (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY Up For Sale (Burning Heart) Melodic pacey rock from left wing Swedish agit-poppers that suffers from rather repetitive lyrics. One of the b-sides is appalling (Weighing War on a Coma) and the second is a fast and furious Hives-style garage number. Both sound like they were recorded in a septic tank. Reviewed by mawders MOWER Rest in Peace (Transcopic Records) Likeable enough number that shows that the writer has spent more than just a Lazy Sunday Afternoon listening to the Small Faces. As a complete contrast the b-side is a grinding industrial effort. Reviewed by mawders PETE YORN For Nancy (Columbia) Opens with Another Girl Another Planet-ish riff and is a pleasant enough acoustic foottapping rocker though its lack of variety means you lose interest after a couple of plays. Reviewed by mawders Re-recorded old b-side given a harder edge and now reissued as the third single from the Bristol based band that Sony have spent much effort in pushing. The new version ditches the poppy feel of its earlier guise and has more of a Muse with knuckle dusters if that’s not a complete contradiction. This band’s live show deliver some excellent 60s-ish material so their album could be pretty interesting. Reviewed by mawders SPAN Baby’s Come Back (Yogaboy Records) What are they putting in their smorgasbord’s over in Scandinavia? Another Ikea delivered garage-punk band with a red hot throaty chorus and jackhammer basslines though they lose points for their salty language that sees reason to mention hockey puck just because it rhymes with a certain anglo-saxon profanity. Reviewed by mawders DROPKICK MURPHYS vs FACE TO FACE Split EP (B-Unique/Vagrant Records) Face to Face and the Dropkick Murphys are two of the many Stateside bands who consider that punk should be preceded by the word Oi rather than the world’s current preference, garage. Face to Face kick off with two circa 1979 punk Subs and SLF style stompers and then finish with a cover of the latters classic Wasted Life. Enjoyable but not particularly original. In this contest the definite winners are the Murphys with their Guinness fuelled drinking yomps. Their opener The Dirty Glass is like Fairytale of New York sung to the tune of Sally MacLannane. The other two tracks are even less subtle moshers but more ammo to the claim that punk’s still very much alive. Reviewed by mawders |
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It's a well known fact that Manchester's newest adopted indie sons Haven have got 4 great songs. This is certainly one of them A wise re-release from last year, this demonstrates all that is good about Haven. The soaring vocal of Gary Briggs. Nat Wason's glorious shimmering guitar. The freshness of it all. The sense that it's blowing away all that is not required in British Pop Music. Quite simply, Indie-Rock as it should be played. Reviewed by Joe THE JESSICA FLETCHERS (Come On) It’s Only Nine (Perfect Pop Records) The band recently supported the Hives in Oslo and like their Swedish neighbours they’re inspired by - but not beholden to – the 1960s. They wear their influences on their sleeves - British pop like the Kinks, Donovan and the Beatles – and, perhaps because they’re Norwegian, they sound like a US garage band interpreting the British invasion bands. They’re strongly melodic (check out the sha-la-las on ‘Diamond Ring’) and the change of pace on the title track suggests they’re fine songwriters too. They invest their songs with tons of feeling but retain a sense of the contemporary - they’re not merely a 60s tribute band. This is unashamedly happy music and the perfect soundtrack for an Austin Powers movie. For more information try: http://www.perfectpop.no Reviewed by Ged The YYYs are a 3-piece low-fi, minimalist blues combo, perhaps already the only band to be spoken of in the same breath as the mighty White Stripes. Every song is a gem. “Bang” is a modern urban blues, with a mutated Hendrix riff, all sharp edged guitar and lazy, sleazy singing. Possibly a contender for single of the year already, I swear it’s like little else you’ve heard. “Mystery Girl” is glam punk, title and chorus sounding like the New York Dolls, with primitive, visceral drumming. “Art Star” is part art-rock, part jazz-punk but the scarifying singing exorcises any danger of pretension. “Miles Away” takes Kirsten Hirsch’s vocals and marries them to a fearsome punk rock charge. Finally, “Our Time” starts as a small, introverted, tinkling piece and builds up to a rousing, anthemic chorus. They make breathtaking and brilliant music and they – especially Karen O – are stars in the making. Take my advice and besiege your record shop now. Reviewed by Ged OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE Crash EP (www.obsessive--compulsive.com Imagine, if you will, say Johnny Thunders and Morticia Adams
shacking up in Manchester. They raise a daughter to sing sirenic strong confident vocals
and a son to play rock guitar. Imagine the
girl (Kelii) and boy (Lee) write introspective songs in a superior Catatonic rock vein
with lyrics like “Don’t be afraid of my black ringed eyes/I’m just in
love…Love is pain/Pain is real” (Love is Pain).
You might be imagining this impressive self-financed debut EP from O/C. But why imagine when you can get a free 2 track
promo tape by sending your address to O/C at oc_mania@hotmail.com. You might get obsessed too. Reviewed by Kev STEPHEN HERO/CANE 141 (Track & Field 7”) Stephen Hero is Patrick Fitzgerald, ex-Kitchens of Distinction, with electronic backing from Cane 141. This is a day-dreamy ballad which, like a soundtrack theme, successfully captures a sense of mood and atmosphere. If you liked Patrick’s distinctive voice and idiosyncratic lyrics, you’ll like this. B-side is a more experimental, funereal electronic drone. Reviewed by Ged MINORPLANETS Swallows and Amazons Not all music from Manchester is ‘mad’ or ‘indie’: here are examples of ‘Manctronica’ - electronic northern songs. “Swallows and Amazons”, the standout on this well-produced demo, has a lazy, swaying beat with lovely trumpet flourishes and on the chorus Suzanne Hughes sounds a little like Madonna . The song itself has echoes of the cruelly overlooked ‘Moves Like You’ by another Mancunian, Cath Carroll, from a few years back. “Insideoutside” is faster with a cowboy beat and “Rockaway”, despite the morbid aircrash sample, is gentle and moody. Deserves a wider audience because it more than holds up against some of the stuff on radio playlists. Reviewed by Ged |
 EIGHTIES
MATCHBOX B-LINE DISASTER Morning has Broken (Radiate)Hard Raaaaaaaaaaaaaawk almost Industrial, Cramps meet the Birthday Party but with the amps on FULL and the SCREACH levels set to 120 (even though the dial stops at 10). Subtle, it is not. And sadly, nor is it particularly any good. Reviewed by mawders THE BELLRAYS Fire On The Moon (Poptones) Imagine 60s Tina Turner fronting the MC5 or a punked up Jefferson Airplane and you've got this ballsy rock gem. Fantastic LOUD full-on hairy punk n soul!!!! Reviewed by mawders CRUACHAN/SHANE MacGOWAN Ride On EP (Hammerheart Records) It’s safe to say this release would have never reached beyond a few drunken punters down a back street Dublin bar if Shane hadn’t stumbled in and said “mine’s a double and can I join in?”. His input is minimal, restricted to a minute or so of the first track and the rest is a bizarre mix of female Irish folk led ballad, bland rock and ahem death metal. Needless to say it’s pop with an additional ‘o’ in the middle. Reviewed by mawders THE VINES Highly Evolved (Heavenly) Labelled by some as the new Strokes - more because of the hype surrounding them than any real musical resemblence. This is more true to their live sound than the previous reggae tinged "Factory" release, a grungey garage with a heavy Nirvana feel, chiefly due to the Cobain style vocals. Reviewed by mawders THE CORAL Skeleton Key (Deltaphonic) Another kraaaazy quirky number from those cheeky Scouse rapscallions. This is the La's after 27 rakis and a bad case of scurvy. Bloody good fun though, donchano. Hehehe. Now pass the boys some lemons. Reviewed by mawders GERLING The Deer In You (Infectious) Understated muffled vocals, shuffling drumbeat and psychedelic effects all add up to a cute little delight somewhere Super, somewhere Furry and somewhere Animal, yes it’s the Deer in You. Reviewed by mawders Pioneers is a tedious Starsailor style effort from a band who at least in some of the songs in their live performance hint at something more useful. The other two tracks Landscape (bluesy Gomez) and Help Yourself (Starsailor again) are no better. Reviewed by mawders MILES HUNT CLUB Everything is not okay (Eagle Records) This is effectively, circlesquare revisited by the former Wonder Stuff frontman minus the fiddles. Radio friendly, repetitive and unfortunately not very good. Reviewed by mawders ELECTRELANE I Want to be President EP (Let’s Rock Records) Stereolab-esq bleepy arse dribble that must have taken all of 30 seconds to write. Reviewed by mawders MCLUSKY To Hell With Good Intentions (Too Pure) The familiar Steve Albini production with ultra deep bass accompanied by frenetic humourous shouty screeches from a man who looks horribly like Steven Wells but thankfully isn’t. Reviewed by mawders Another Albini production, the immediate reaction is that this is an out of tune, shambling lazy dirge. And repeated plays confirm it. I think the Deals need lessons off Tanya D on how to write a beautiful stripped down ballad. Reviewed by mawders EASYWORLD try not to think (Jive Records) Competent pop rock with more than just a nod towards early Radiohead they then follow it with everyone knows which is 100% Someone Somewhere by the Wannadies, then she’s something else which is part Wannadies/part Placebo/part Vengaboys. All reasonably enjoyable if hardly groundbreaking. Reviewed by mawders STARSAILOR Poor Misguided Fool (Chrysalis) As close to uptempo as these miserable chin strokers ever get. Not unpleasant melancholy in the usual Buckley styleeeee. Reviewed by mawders CYCLEFLY No Stress (Radioactive) Cork fivepiece play Linkin Park style rawk. Above average for its genre, it’ll no doubt raise a few Cowabunga!’s amongst the baggy shorted little skatepunk dudes down your local youth club. Reviewed by mawders THE FREELANCE HELLRAISER A Stroke of Genius….(white label) This is a 7” of dubious legality; good job the music business has the same relation to ethics as Karen Carpenter to a full English breakfast. The FH has taken the lyrics to Christina Aguillara’s ‘Genie in a Bottle’ and welded them to the chassis of the Strokes’ ‘Hard to Explain’. And the genius is that it works perfectly and, for the first time in her life, has made Brittany’s rival a tiny bit credible. A storming single. Expect to hear this at student discos for years to come. Reviewed by Ged THRESHNER Apparatus! Ep (Searching for Cereal) Threshner are an indie band from DC and this 5 track EP is their first release. The spoof promo sheet reckons that tracks 'range from two-chord rock (ok, more than two) to fake 60's pop'. The songs, which are all about love and relationships, are short; only one is longer than 3 and half minutes and two are less than 2 and a half. First track 'Sun Time' put me in mind of The Smiths. '[like a] HOLE in the ground' is a rocker that gets stuck in a rut over a minute before the end. 'Baby' is kinda like the Beach Boys meets Simon & Garfunkel. The remaining two songs are slow and bleak and spoil the promise shown by the earlier songs. Reviewed by Sleezy |
Peel faves not afraid to print their, by turns, angry, tender and sloganeering lyrics on the sleeve. If this was a weather forecast, it would be punk rock gusting to nu-metal with a play loud alert. Breathtaking. BEARSUIT Drinkink (Sickroom Gramophonic Collective) Like the first breath of oxygen after sharing a tent with a flatulent friend for a night, this is intoxicating. Spiky, squealy Wire-type vocals making spoons with lovely Cinerama-type melodies. They’ve got something you like. Pretty B-sides too. MOTEL Hey Hey (Sickroom Gramophonic Collective) A side sounds like Japanese electropop, all swirly keyboards, synth wizzle and breathless vocals - short, dancey and intensely lovable. B side is the sound of Leonard Cohen dusting off his synthesiser and scoring a horror movie. Beautifully sombre. Reviewed by Ged So who do Oscura sound like? How does early 80's new wave British bands sound? Yep, the Bunnymen and Teardrop Explodes provide particular inspiration to Andrew Sicco's band of merry musicians. This is a pretty unremarkable little record, but an inoffensive one nonetheless. The psychedelic whirl of "Until Tomorrow"" is particularly hypnotic and "The Clean Cut Kid" is a fine example of classic new wave pop. It's on their heavier moments, Oscura fail somewhat. "She's Your Boss" drifts by nondescriptly and on "AM, PM" they sound like a bad Placebo tribute band attempting three own songs. Nothing outstanding then, and yet nothing too horrible. Will be interesting to see the way this lot go. More info at www.oscura-nyc.com. Reviewed by Joe KICKER No More Tears /The Long Way
Down The Kicker single is a warm and effervescent double A side. Breezes along like a slice of pure 60s beat, and guaranteed to set the feet of the worst wallflowers tapping away. Great Lakes on this evidence are the Beach Boys in a head-on collision with Bowie. Gorgeous harmonies, powerful rhythms and a swoontastic chorus. The Bee Gees cover on the B-side is saved from its Kumbaya tendencies by more astonishing harmonies and tremulous guitars. Saloon are Stereolab with smiles as a driving rhythm is invaded by, in turn, cute female vocals, clashy guitar and fantastic parpy horns. But the gold medal goes to Dressy Bessy. Their sassy, infectious 60’s sounding track is girl group vocal backed by a beefy-sounding garage band: the Shirelles meets the Standells. As soon as it finishes, my needle goes straight back to the start. At the risk of sounding like Track and Field’s pimp, these are their best set of releases so far. Buy, play, play again and then play louder. reviewed by
Ged A foretaste (or should that be a foretoast?) for the next LP, this one-off ltd ed vinyl 45 (it says here), contains 70’s pop synth, wah gtr, sampled drums and horns in a simple rhythmic and melodic pattern over which a toaster ...er, toasts to Jah…against other assorted phrases and interjections. Northern Soul meets Reggae? More reminiscent of Tjinder’s Clinton project, the groove grows with repeated playings and it does not disappoint. Wonderful. (Reviewed by Kev) GORILLAZ Tomorrow Comes Today (Parlophone) Dreary, depressing Cure style effort from the cartoon Albarn. Peculiar little ditty from the Foos, it switches between their standard pop grunge into a Britpop yomping chorus. Unfortunately the overall impression is of a band running out of ideas. BLUETONES After Hours (Superior) Oh dear. An appalling Ben Folds Five meets Gilbert O'Sullivan keyboard abomination, that would be too cheesey even for Gorgonzola FM. CORNERSHOP Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III (Wiiija) Good to see the 'shop back. A catchy, scratchy infectious Big Beat-er that could be a big big hit. NICKELBACK How You Remind Me (Roadrunner) A huge Zippo wielding rock anthem with great gravelly vocals, it was number 1 in the States for a few weeks. 100% AOR, this'll be the only single your dad will buy this year. ABDOUJAPAROV Emergency Medical Hologram (Spinach Records) When Carter USM split to form two separate bands, it couldn't possibly have been through musical differences because both have gone on to produce pish poor hundred mile an hour punk pop with puerile lyrics. Grow up, you silly old men. SIX BY SEVEN IOU Love (Mantra) Dark and moody with a great bassline, it will probably appeal to fans of Grandaddy, Mercury Rev and Sparklehorse, without sounding like any of them. Very good. SYSTEM OF A DOWN Toxicity (Columbia) Brooding nu-metal from LA and title track from their huge selling LP. Whilst I'm no fan of the genre, I can recognise this is more wheat than chaff. Industrial Goth metal techno cover version of These Boots are Made for Walking. More pants than boots. They may have quite possibly the worst name in rock, try searching for them on Google and you'll soon see, but they are currently enjoying a good deal of success on the other side of the Atlantic. This release shows why as it's a rock mutha accompanied by Sting-ish vocals. SATELLITE Lighten up the Load (Mercury) An appealing and quirky mid-tempo shuffler from a band who sound very American (think Eels and Beck) but are actually from right here in Blighty. Gor blimey. One of the better efforts from this overrated bunch. A busy number, it's a deep basslined swamp thang with Dr Who woohoo effects, slapped drums and brass. Reviewed by
Mawders How much do you miss the American Music Club since Mark Eitzel embarked on his (still pretty fab) "more grown up" solo career? If it seems a bit lazy and unfair to start a review with a question about another band, then that's probably because I'm both lazy and unfair. But the shadow of AMC is conjoured up as the counter starts ticking on this Milo CD and it's never really escaped, which may be why it never quite satisfies. The music shows more ambition than most college rockers, but still too much soloing and noodling in the "local guitar-hero" stylee for my tastes. The vocals register just the wrong side of droning, and the whole think somehow lacks the sense of ironic self-awareness and self-loathing which makes good angst-rock work (as indeed did the first AMC record...). OK, but certainly no cigar (or as my other half would put it "shut those whining Yanks up or I'm not making you another cup of tea".) Accomplished enough country-rock, but with little to distinguish it from the several dozen other singer-songwriter acts knocking around at the moment. That said, if Dido and David Gray can both crash into the top 20 earning British musicians (£12m and £8m last year respectively if I remember the figures right), there's no reason Kelly shouldn't be bathing in asses milk come the end of 2002. Reviewed by SPT TEENAGE FANCLUB & JAD FAIR Near to You (Geographic) A corking tune written and performed by the mighty Fannies, rousing, uplifting and sing-a-longa.... or at least it would be if it hadn't been accompanied by Jad Fair, a tuneless poor-man's Jonathan Richman. Maybe one day TFC will re-record this with their own vocals and do the song justice. The second song Always in My Heart, also has a neat little riff with the addition of a quirkiness more suited to Jad's spoken delivery and admittedly humourous lyrics. SAHARA HOTNIGHTS On Top Of Your World (RCA) Currently on tour supporting the Hives, this all-female four piece are another sweaty Swedish punk pop import. All Runaways power riffs and shouty choruses, they are not unappealing, but their lack of real quality songs suggests they will remain the hors d'ouvre rather than the main course. HEFNER The Hefner Brain (Too Pure) An EP, the main track is a remix of one of the many highlights from the much overlooked (if not by this organ) Dead Media album, When the Angels Play Their Drum Machines (Mothership Mix). This is a wonderful little simple 80s style keyboard number accompanied by Darren's vocals, which are as always both clever and lyrically deft. The other four tracks are all also catchy little poppets; two electro pop operettas - cheeky beeps forming Depche Mode / Human League burrowing aural brainworms, one bluesy oompah number and a ballad. Terrific. SPIRITUALIZED Do It All Over Again (Spaceman) I'm not a fan of this guy's most recent output; he has a knack of churning out tunes that really annoy me. However out of the blue, comes this lovely little uptempo Sargeant Pepper style song, wonderfully poppy, optimistic and all that Spiritualized are normally not. MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY Watching Xanadu (Blanco Y Negro) Cheesy and silly, bringing back memories of naff 80s one hit wonders like Haircut 100. An infuriating song, you'll hate yourself for singing along to it. And you inevitably will. DANDY WARHOLS Get Off (Capitol) If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Second successive re-issue by the Dandies this is the Sergio Leone meets Dostoyesky inspired rootin tootin shootin Cossacks and is a Smirnoff and Jack Daniels fuelled jaunty stomp. Reviewed by mawders |
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