13th April, 1998
The singles market is a little bit dead at the moment...
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"Hurricane" by Warm JetsThe best band never to make it (yet...), Warm Jets seem fated to release the same singles over and over again until someone apart from Zoe Ball sits up and takes notice. Which is a shame, because the band's brand of retro-futuristic new wave indie rock cuts through the post-Britpop wasteland like a laser-guided missile, effortlessly sweeping aside scores of serious surly young men in anoraks in the process. "Hurricane" is the Jets' second best song ("Never Never" rules), and with its helter skelter chorus and Luis' always just slightly off-kilter vocals, it picks you up, twisting you around its melodic centre then depositing you breathless 4 minutes later. This is a new version of a previous release, and the guitars have been beefed up a bit, and the divine Aki's bass and vocals poured on top. Some of the b's have ventured out before, but the robotic Tom Robinson-ish "Soft Song" is brand new, tightly wound around its metallic riff and ready to go, like the sound of a party where the house band are Blondie fronted by Pete Shelley. "Dakota" is next on CD1, the soundtrack to a western movie made on Mars in which Moroder-style synth underpins a New York art-rock tune. Pushing all the right buttons and nodding at all the right references, it lazily buzzes around your head before singing itself to sleep. CD2 (hey - it's a quiet week and I love this band) contains an alternative version of "Hurricane" and another new song: "Faster Faster". If Kraftwerk had a better sense of humour, or Devo weren't quite so mad, they would sound like this. A jaunty electro ditty that sounds as though its emerged from the mind of Clive Sinclair after some class A drugs, "Faster Faster" sums up the Warm Jets' vision of a clean and shiny future where everything sounds just that little bit out of place. "Just Like You" is last, a mix between the theme to Close Encounters and Radiohead, quietly strummed acoustic guitars vying for space with tremulous synth noises and Jones' morning-after vocals. Don't make them release it a third time... Rating: 10/10
The Rest"Policeman Skank" by Audioweb"Freestylers Rinse Out Mix" should please the new generation of breakdancers appearing in shopping centres up and down the land with its rapid bpm breakbeats and samples, whilst "Same Song" is more introspective, with a trip hop style feel that is a bit forgettable. "Out Of Bounds (Demo)" is ambient reggae, with its dub background and relaxed vox. One of those bands that seem doomed to inhabit the second division of music today, Audioweb are nevertheless safe from relegation. Rating: 7/10
"All My Ghosts" by Frank Black"Living On Soul" is a little better, a half-hearted attempt at the surf punk majesty he once knew - but at low tide. "Humboldt County Massacre" sees Frank back in mad-eyed old wino mode, where you tolerate him politely whilst secretly hoping he'll just leave you alone. "Changing Of The Guards" is a Bob Dylan cover; karaoke in an empty Hispanic bar in the afternoon. Don't remember him this way. Rating: 2/10
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