Suede man's epic fall from grace

(Morning Star, Friday 30 March 2007)

ALBUM: Brett Anderson - Brett Anderson
(Vital)

POISE is everything. Pretension, or the appearance of being pretentious, is key in pop.

In the heady days of the early 1990s, indie bands looked like Fraggles. The sartorially and intellectually challenged days of baggy left a sour taste in the mouths of music fans looking for more grace and style. They were looking for Suede.

Four whey-faced, fey, wasted indie kids with their roots in Thatcher's grim Britain, Suede shone a light on the bleak streets of modern Britain.

Theirs was a kingdom of urban wastelands and adolescent ankle sock dramas and, with well-read Brett Anderson at the helm, they offered intelligent pop for the disaffected youth unable to identify with the likes of the great unwashed superstars of grunge Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder.

So, Anderson has earned his stripes as a forerunner and a pioneer. He formed one half of probably the greatest songwriting partnership of the 1990s and gave nothing but sensational column inches for a music press foaming at the mouth for an erudite, self-aware frontman.

It's a bit of a shame that it's come to this for the great man, his first solo effort.

In fairness, his voice is still unique and attention-grabbing, if you like that sort of thing. He drags the emotion out of every note on debut single Love is Dead and, elsewhere, his singing sits well with the predominantly slow-paced tracks.

The real letdown here is, sorry to say, the lyrics. Dust and Rain plumbs new depth with its "I am the needle, you are the vein," while the less said about The More We Possess The Less We Own Of Ourselves, the better.

The strangely familiar chiming guitars of Intimacy bring back the Suede tingle, but the "Intimacy, I want you to be part of me" refrain is a little nauseating.

From such incredible stock, Anderson's made the leap to peddling sixth form poetry, becoming a slightly embarrassing earnest songwriter. Is it even earnest? Maybe he thinks this is how he should write.

It would be churlish to deny Anderson was ever prone to a little pretension.

Ditto's surprise

(Morning Star, Friday 16 March 2007)

ALBUM: The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
(Backyard)

AS tabloid fodder goes, the Gossip's Beth Ditto is up there with the best. She has been labelled a "fat lesbian," but the Arkansas native actually has a lot more to her than that.

She cuts an erudite, intelligent swathe through other US government botherers and has certainly paid her dues before coming to this, what people are calling The Gossip's "success."

So, after all that, the music better be pretty good and - sigh with relief - it is.

Mostly because Ditto's pipes can adequately cover any style, from bellicose liberal rant to gentle lover's croon.

Surprisingly, much of Standing in the Way of Control is a lament for love, for society and for the lack of a perfect life, but not an outraged rant.

Standing in the Way of Control, the single, is the highest tempo track on here, but songs such as Holy Water and Dark Lines showcase a softer, more sensuous sound which gives The Gossip a roundedness which often eludes their garage punk peers.

Ditto's social activism may spook the coy and it would be fair enough to fear that her self-righteous indignation might bleach out all the soul from the music, but doubters should be ready for a surprise.

Bizarre abode

(Morning Star, Friday 16 March 2007)

ALBUM: The Horrors - Strange House
(Polydor)

IF you believe nothing else about The Horrors, you must believe that they do have a bloody strange house.

In this album, they sing about spectres of serial killers past drifting by in Jack the Ripper, violent femmes in Sheena is a Parasite and the terminally troubled Morgan in Excellent Choice, who wishes his family dead.

Like Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster before them, The Horrors are not all about making crazy eyes and butchering kittens. Rather, they take the best parts of goth and marry them with a punk rock sensibility, giving birth to a most uneasy alliance. It's a bit like pantomime, but with an underlying stench of dread and, well, horror.

The cacophonous result which springs forth from these art school boys makes their debut one of the records of the year.

All the same, Strange House is a cool place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.

John Simpson - Man of the World

(My Weekly magazine, 3 March 2007)

She's got balls

(Morning Star, Friday 02 March 2007)

ALBUM: Charlotte Hatherley - The Deep Blue
(Little Sister)

CHARLOTTE Hatherley may have left a pop-punk trio of men in Ash, but make no mistake about it - she's the one with the testosterone.

Her kick-arse attitude aside, the video for The Deep Blue's first single offering I Want You To Know shows a beat 'em up Charl in fighting form with more muscles than Madonna.

But don't let the fact that she could punch your lights out cold force you into enjoying this record.

If you've any sense, you'll decide that this is one of the poppiest, rockiest, ballsiest, sweetest, coolest, hottest female artiste records to hit the shelves on musical merit alone.

The high point is the single. Lower points are apparent in some of the dodgier lyrics. But laying themselves bare is what these pop stars are all about, so just be prepared for it - and dive in.

THE DRAYTONES – FOREVER ON

(AU magazine March 2007)

(1965 Records)

A London-based Anglo-Argentinian trio with a penchant for jazz and two feet firmly in 1965 –year and label – The Draytones hail from the same stable as The View.
This alone should trigger the ‘scene’ warning loud and clear, but The Draytones’ sound is mercifully different from the Dundonian noiseniks.
In fact, the best word for this first album is ‘schizophrenic’, taking in as it does influences of garage rock, Babyshambles and even Jungle Book-style jazz on ‘Trafalgar Square’.
First single, ‘Keep Loving Me’ pushes some rock buttons, but the differences between the songs – from acoustic ‘Out Of This World’ to the soft-shoe ‘Trafalgar Square’ - translate as a distinct lack of cohesion.
With the varied influences they’re pulling together, it’s less than clear if the band are leaders or followers, but the latter seems a safer bet.