Eighties pop sophistry from Denmark

(Morning Star, Sunday 24 October 2004)

Behind Our Masks We Are Perfectly Ordinary People - Superheroes
(Sidewinder Sounds)

When all is said and done, the Danes aren't famous for much. Bacon. Beer. Hans Christian Andersen.

But Superheroes could change all that. They've made a hefty attempt with this, their British debut.

A six-piece, the band have been releasing records - and winning awards - for six years, though they are still in their early twenties. Obviously, careers start earlier in Denmark than Britain.

Labelmates with Junior Senior, both bands share close links and a similar sound, but only in the best possible way.

The tunes are pure pop, but the sound, especially on Johnny and I and Rich And Famous is a major '80s throwback.

The beauty of Voice (On My Radio) outweighs any British pop in 2004 and we should feel shamed because of it.

Like The Hives‚ British breakthrough Behind Our Masks is a collection of the best tracks from Superheroes' first three albums and, as such, is a little disjointed.

But the record still retains an air of class and pop sophistication found on those of bands far beyond their years and gives the air of being a dirty little secret. Like a school disco when you finally got to pull your long-term crush. Lovely.

Doherty's sorry saga

(Morning Star, Saturday 09 October 2004)

Babyshambles, Dundee Reading Rooms

LIVE: What can be said about the so-called mind of a generation? KIRSTIE MAY writes.

That he's a tortured soul who's a victim of his own intellect? That the socially unacceptable means that he employs to get by - drugs and alcohol - are merely a necessary release? That we are not worthy?

The music press has afforded Pete Doherty, formerly of The Libertines, now Babyshambles‚ a religious mythology.

Fans of the band are notoriously zealous and the Aberdeen date on this tour saw Doherty crying off due to a "fall" and a riot ensuing, in which the venue was evacuated.

Riots, drugs, jail - where controversy is, Doherty will surely follow.

And it is precisely this folklore that has allowed Babyshambles to shuffle on through the dark alleys of rock'n'roll.

As ever, the hype is so unjustified that it's heinous. There's a racket going on and the punk ethos is far from being invoked.

It is total lack of cohesion of any sort, although the tunes are there. Just.

Who came to see this band and decided that they were going to set the world alight?

For the fans, Doherty may as well be the only man on the stage, so redundant are the haphazard collection of ghouls who surround him.

It's a shame for the band and the fans that they will never be anything more than props in the whole sorry saga and that their music will never be more than a cautionary tale.