iLIKETRAiNS – ELEGIES TO LESSONS LEARNT

(AU magazine May 2008)

(BEGGARS BANQUET)

In music history, it’s not that long since pop was a big, dumb animal. Sure, there was a streetwise cunning about the Sex Pistols, and no one had more angsty wisdom than Kurt Cobain, but actual booklearning? Not since the early days of Radiohead has anyone boasted of their academic credentials as loudly as iLIKETRAiNS. And with good reason. This film version of the album ‘Elegies To Lessons Learnt’ is packed full of visually arresting imagery – an animated figure depicting everyone from a plague-era vicar to a 20th century yachtsman, an MP who faked his own death to the Puritan who served as a minister in Salem during the witch trials. Yes, yes, it’s interesting, but preaching to boot. The problem is that the music is astonishing – sweeping and somber, with a soul which reaches deeper than anyone else around at the moment – but the patronised listener is not a happy one.

THE KOOKS – KONK

(AU magazine May 2008)

(Virgin)

There’s something unintentionally funny about The Kooks. Well, one must assume it’s unintentional – it seems unlikely the young Brighton foursome said ‘We’ll get way more coverage if one of us goes out with a really asinine warbling wench. Ooh, and how about we sing really funny?’ And yet, this is the case. Luke ‘overshadowed by his ex’ Pritchard leads up The Kooks, with his strange, sort of wobbly vocal that sounds like he’s singing underwater.
After a debut album of massive appeal, ‘Konk’ is little more than a retread, but it’s not offensive. They make pleasant pop to fill the airwaves of local radio, on show here in the guise of ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ and ‘Do You Wanna’.
If you like your rock with smooth pop edges, you could do a lot worse - not least because singing along is hilarious.

MEXICAN INSTITUTE OF SOUND – ESCRIBEME PRONTO

(AU magazine May 2008)

(COOKING VINYL)

SINGLE REVIEW

There’s something strange and unusual about listening to Latin rhythms in the UK. From the repetitive ‘arriba’-style vocal to the Spanish vocals, MIS’ ‘Escribeme Pronto’ is pretty much guaranteed to leave any Brit listener feeling out of place, shot through with the sort of beats that it truly takes a truckload of tequila to be able to appreciate. After that, mind, it’s golden.
Notably, of the six versions on show here, there’s more originality – depth, soul and delight – than any of them. The remixes actually tend to verge on parody, which is a shame, because in isolation, ‘Escribeme Pronto’ will get the summertime single vote. As it is – return to sender.

ORPHAN BOY – SHOP LOCAL

(AU magazine May 2008)

(CONCRETE RECORDINGS)

Straight out of Grimsby come this three-piece, imbibed with the very spirit of yoof, Orphan Boy. Lauded for producing ‘the most played song’ on king of indie Steve Lamacq’s mp3 player in ‘Trophies Of Love’, debut album Shop Local sees them merrily making a mockery of the identikit rock which forms their contemporary battle ground.
Like those other bands, there is an element of everyday life to the subject matter here – Orphan Boy are concerned with modern life, because, well, it’s a bit rubbish. Single ‘Postcode’ makes sport of the daily drudge of housing estates with all the flair of the Arctic Monkeys, and the myriad influences of the band come into play throughout the record.

PARKA - ATTACK OF THE HUNDRED YARD MADMAN

(AU magazine May 2008)

(JEEPSTER RECORDINGS)

The ancient art of melding guitar to dance beat is a distinguished one. The heady days of Madchester taught rockers how to rave and vice versa, Parka are merely the most recent chasers of the same musical mecca.
These Scots have already scalped Alex Zane for their fanbase with breakout single 'Disco Dancer', which merrily channels Franz Ferdinand's 'Michael' with a little less style.
The jewel here seems to be 'DJ In The Corner', which sees 90s flame-haired indie-dance gulderer Saffron from Republica revisit her stock in trade.
'Attack Of The Hundred Yard Madmen' is deceptively difficult to listen to - because no matter how much your feet want to do their stuff, there is the mouldy whiff of yesteryear around the whole damn thing.

BLOOD RED SHOES - SAY SOMETHING, SAY ANYTHING

(AU magazine April 2008)

(V2)

SINGLE REVIEW

Believing that Blood Red Shoes are a duo is a bit of a stretch when
listening to Say Something, Say Anything.
There's a beefiness to the single which is lacking in bands with twice the
personnel, and the musical complexities make for a strong effort from the
Brighton bunch.
The heartfelt vocals are matched by a jagged guitar riff, shot through
with the modernity that Blood Red Shoes bring to all their records, and
the ingenuity which is setting them apart from the musical crowd at the
moment.
The band are fresh off a sellout UK tour and, if Say Something, Say
Anything is anything to go by, it won't be long before they're selling out
bigger venue on the same circuit.

BE YOUR OWN PET

(AU magazine April 2008)

LIVE: Spring and Airbrake, Belfast

A couple of years ago, Be Your Own Pet played Tennants Vital in Belfast. They stormed onstage with attitude to spare, and after thrashing through a handful of tracks off their eponymous 2006 debut, singer Jemina Pearl Abegg swore and spat insults at the crowd and left mid-set. In rock’n’roll, this was naturally the Holy Grail – a quartet of Nashville teens who didn’t give a fuck.
Loping onstage at the Spring and Airbrake, bleached blond Jemina posed candidly at the microphone and, not to disappoint, spat forth an explosion of rock. With army-style flashes of red paint across her high cheekbones, the Blondie-meets-Ian Curtis singer was ready for battle, and thrashed her way through each song like a demented doll, taking a leaf out of Karen O’s book for eerie dancing.
The punk ethos of the debut is amplified on newly-released follow-up Get Awkward, and for every crazed thrash through a new track came an old favourite. High points were We Will Vacation, You Will Be My Parasol and Bicycle Bicycle You Are My Bicycle, although the immovability of the crowd did cause the Tennessee firecrackers some consternation.
From every track on show, there was a melody and attitude, and more than a little maturity despite having an average age of just 20.
Sadly, there came no temper tantrum, but the last raw crash through Bunk Trunk Skunk left ears ringing, and Jemina and her band once again emerged victorious in the eyes of rock’n’roll.

THE XCERTS – DO YOU FEEL SAFE/LISTEN. DON’T PANIC

(AU magazine April 2008)

SINGLE REVIEW

(MANNEQUIN REPUBLIC)

A recommendation from Radio 1 annoyance Zane Lowe is about as close as any band can get to the kiss of death, but The Xcerts might just have what it takes to rise above the Kiwi Typhoid Mary. Not only that, but the boys are lucky enough to represent the label owned by Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly’s Sam Duckworth, and there’s a lot to be said for this double A-side of rock ['Do You Feel Safe?'] and tingly young love ['Listen. Don’t Panic']. ‘Do You Feel Safe?’ kicks in like something off the local gig circuit, all Pixies-inspired quiet bit/loud bit, replete with Scottish accents, and endearing for it. ‘Listen. Don’t Panic’ is more delicate, making the difference so stark as to feel like The Xcerts’ CV in two parts. Wonder what else they can do…

Straight to hell

(Morning Star, Friday 21 March 2008)

ALBUM: The Feeling - Join with us
(Island)
ANY fan of modern music would acquiesce to the fact that there is always liberal pilfering of ideas.

There would be no Oasis without the Beatles, Strokes without Stooges, Mika without Leo Sayer - that's all granted.

But what Dan Gillespie-Sells's monstrous The Feeling have achieved is remarkable - the defrosting wholesale of a cryogenically frozen Supertramp.

The only bigger crime was that they refracted their own hideous image through an ELO lens and this is what came of it - the very latest record of pop's journey to hell in a handcart.

Still, nice of DGS to take a break from those M&S ads...

Carving out an anarchic niche

(Morning Star, Friday 07 March 2008)

ALBUM: Chumbawamba - The Boy Bands Have Won
AS a tonic to the 1980s posturing of such odious self-styled gurus as Bono and Bob Geldof, Chumbawamba's debut album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records was a big deal indeed.

In the go-for-it 1980s, here was a band who dared to question and make mockery of pious conventions peddled by the mainstream press.

It's unclear, really, when the Chumbawamba's own peculiar brand of anarchy began to be laughable.

Some cite the attack on John Prescott by vocalist and keyboard player Danbert Nobacon at the Brits, others singer and percussionist Alice Nutter's increasingly baffling uber-political stances.

Whatever the matter, it's time to accept these old school hippies back into the fold, as they have rediscovered themselves on this new release.

Replete with 25 tracks, the record certainly endeavours to claw back the band's place in musical history.

It reinvigorates with its creativity, employing five-part harmonies and really bringing a warmth to their traditionally unorthodox approach to the charts.

Bringing together such subject matter as El Fusilado, a man who survived a firing squad execution and Gary Tyler, an innocent man who has spent 30 years as an inmate on death row in the US.

Chumbawamba have been written off before, but the truth is that their brand of multicultural, multi-influenced music has never been more pertinent.

Give it a listen, because the second bands like this stop releasing records, the boy bands really will have won.