14th October, 1996

This week: Britpop vs New Glam (as an indifferent US band looks on bemusedly).

Single of the Week

"No One Speaks" by Geneva

Being pushed desperately by the music press as the next big thing, Geneva sound less like the much compared-to Suede, and - with Andrew Montgomery's scale-travelling and androgynous vocals - more like David McAlmont.

Regular readers of these reviews will not be surprised to find this piece of swooning and shining romantic pop being made Single of the Week, but I will stress again how stuff like this stands head and shoulders above most of the unambitious and uninspiring stuff churned out by the Oasis clones. "No One Speaks" has ambition: it is to shine very brightly; a diamond amongst the dirt.

The other tracks on the cd - "Closer To The Stars" and "Keep The Light On" - are in a very similar vein: lush, sweeping, epic songs with their heads in the clouds.

A killer blow from the glam contingent.

Rating: 10/10

The Rest

"Fly" by Cast

In the days before the big bad B word, Liverpudlian group The La's were purveying their own brand of Merseybeat-influenced guitar pop. With classics such as "There She Goes" and an LP full of unchained melodies, they promised much indeed. Until perfectionist frontman Lee Mavers went all a bit funny and The La's were no more.

The sound lives on though in ex-La John Powers' beat combo. Masters of melodious, jangly indie pop, Cast already have an impressive back-catalogue of singalong tunes and summer-day anthems. "Fly" is no exception, being an immediately hummable and catchy tune with some nice harmonies and guitar work. Reinforcing their position as Britpop's best singles band, "Fly" should see Cast up in the upper reaches of the chart.

B-sides are more typical Cast fare: "Between The Eyes" a rhythmic slowie; "For So Long" a very 60s-ish acoustic number; and a live version of "Walkaway".

A strong left-hook from the Britpop corner

Rating: 9/10

"Just A Girl" by No Doubt

No Doubt deeply want to be Boss Hog, P J Harvey or some other down & dirty punk blues band. They make a pretty good stab at it with "Just A Girl", a snakeskin-jacketed song that lopes and swaggers confidently around a killer chorus. The main failing is its overproduction: this song would've sounded much better through a cheap set of amps and with a distortion pedal or two.

B-Side "Different People" is a simple ska-tinged pop-song, and the other extra track is "Open The Gate", an Elastica-like punky tune.

Rating: 8/10

"Beautiful Ones" by Suede

Back to the fray..."Beautiful Ones" is Suede's second single from LP "Coming Up" and is a perky and jagged track, Brett once more playing the hand-clapping glam pantomime dame as he sings of more wasted youth, "high on diesel and gasoline". Marked low only because of its familiarity, this is a fine song featuring some impressive singing from Anderson and good backing from the band. In the same way that "Everything Must Go" marked a new optimistic direction for the Manics, "Beautiful Ones" - and the whole of "Coming Up" - sees a revitalised and accomplished Suede, sights firmly set on the top.

"Young Men" is an aircraft taking off for somewhere romantic and decadent, all Bowiesque vocals and overdriven guitar. The other track on the cd is "The Sound Of The Streets", and is a typical Suede tale of faded and wasted urban youth set to a swish guitar soundtrack.

A rapid succession of body blows from the glam boys...

Rating: 8/10

"Lazy Lover" by The Supernaturals

The Supernaturals have obviously listened to Oasis solidly for the past year. Now they come out their bedrooms and inflict this shoddy rubbish on us.

Britpop's down and out. It's all over...

Rating: 2/10

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