Dismissed by many as some kind of slightly more hip UB40, Audioweb are one of those criminally ignored bands, dissed by some before they've even been heard. Admittedly, sometimes their brew of guitars, beats, ragga and rap falls short of the mark, but more often than not - and as is definitely the case here - it hits home like a meteor slamming into your back garden. "Test The Theory" is one of those great songs where all its constituent parts blend together like a fantastic big ice cream sundae, dripping guitars and vocal hooks and always making you want a little bit more.
More is what you get on the b-sides, with a couple of remixes (the guitar-free dance groove of the "Freestylers" mix; and the radical junglist reinterpretation of the "Caught In A Web" version), and a
CD-ROM version of the video, which - being like what one of Jean Paul Gaultier's wet dreams must be like - is a fine thing indeed.
Rating: 10/10
The Rest
Once again, Unkle kidnap an indie hero (Ian Brown in this case - they must've sprung him from prison) and force him to provide vocals to one of their spookily psychotic soundscapes. Here, like "Rabbit In Your Headlights", the result is deliciously refreshing, a sonic acid drop compared to the bland mint humbugs scattered around everywhere else you look. In fact, it's the best thing Monkey Boy has done since leaving The Roses (not much competition, I'll agree), but this is more testament to Unkle's aural juggling skills than Brown's post-Baggy cool.
A superb rock/dance hybrid takes pride of place on the b-side in the shape of "The Knock (On Effect)", a heady mixture of breaker's yard guitar riffs, hip-hop beats and a rap lyric that only pops its head above the sonic barricades once or twice. Then a CD-ROM video of "Rabbit In Your Headlights" follows, making this the best two quid I've spent this week, and a very close second to the above Audioweb track. (Incidentally, the fantastically grotesque video to "Rabbit..." makes the song even more unsettling - see it yourself, but watch with mother...)
Rating: 9/10
After the innovative melange of musical delights from the previous two acts, Annie Christian's brand of epic guitar rock takes a few minutes to get used to again. Cliche-ridden lyrics ("speeding to a vanishing point", "can you feel the rush?", etc, etc) do a not bad stadium-friendly rockout no favours, and the whole is sadly a little forgettable. A shame, as live, Annie Christian can whip up a fairly wicked sonic whirlwind into which you can lose yourself quite easily - on record however, they have yet to impress.
"Get It On" on the b-side is a far too reverent tiptoe through the T-Rex classic, and it is not until the third track - "500 Miles Low" - that the band begin to finally show their potential, with a sparse and
haunting slow number that smoulders away like an old jacket left too close to a fire. For the moment at least - sadly for Annie Christian - the metaphor of old jackets left too close to fires sums them up only too well, but the seed is there...
Rating: 6/10
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