12th January, 1998

US, Wales, Norway (or wherever Libido come from). Whither Britpop now, eh??

Single of the Week

"Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)" by Green Day

I'm going to be unfashionable today. Is that alright with you? No? Well run off here then.

Leaving their dumb-ass Beavis and Butthead days behind (temporarily, no doubt), Green Day release this unsettlingly bittersweet lament for a failed relationship. Imagine a folkier "OK Computer" in New York on St. Patrick's Day, and you're close. Putting my cynical hat to one side for a moment, I would like to think Billy Jo is sincere with this heartfelt and moving acoustic number; whatever the case he has produced a tune worthy of any of your favourite bands.

"Desensitized" on the b-side is more familiar Green Day, with its Ramones-y heads down approach. "Rotting" however is lighter in feel, with a US West Coast feeling and all the better for it.

Rating: 9/10

The Rest

"Given To Fly" by Pearl Jam

A truly epic track based around a deceptively simple tune and Eddie Vedder's strong vocals, "Given To Fly" is all things a great epic rock song should be: pompous, extravagant and overblown, but with something that puts you inside the band's head and lets you see the world through their eyes. The band's strongest song since anything on the "10" LP, this is timeless and - once again - unfashionable music for the eternally disaffected. Buy it, play it loud, paint your room black then tell your parents to f*** off.

"Pilate" is more metal in style than "Given", but is still an impressive track. Still employing the classic grunge trick of quiet bit/loud bit, "Pilate" distinguishes itself with its poetic lyrics and layers of sound. Last b-side is "Leatherman", the most rock n roll title of the year so far (I know it's only January, and it could also be construed as the most homoerotic title, but this is Pearl Jam for heaven's sake). A more traditional, almost r&b track, it rounds off a triumphant return for the embittered Seattle survivors.

Rating: 8/10

"Mulder And Scully" by Catatonia

My goodness, that's some pair of lungs that Cerys has. With her just-smoked-forty-Marlboro voice, she seems to have been instrumental in turning Catatonia from some low-key remnant of the late 80s Blonde bands (where are The Darling Buds now?), into a big bad lager-swilling rock beast from hell (or Wales, at least). Nice to hear a song sang in a Welsh accent too, instead of some anonymous mid-American drawl. "Mulder And Scully" is perhaps a bit bandwagon-jumping, with its "this could be a case for Mulder and Scully" lyrics, but a grand song nonetheless. The guitars could do with a bit of beefing up in the mix: maybe they have been, and still they are drowned out by Cerys' rock chick vocals.

First b-side is "No Stone Unturned", a more sugary and mellower thing altogether, and one in which Cerys' purring, sultry voice gets a little bit grating. On the eveidence of this song, they should just go the whole hog and turn into a heavy metal band. "Mantra For The Lost" is a trippy bit of fluff with nothing much to commend it, and suffers from the same saccharine production as the previous track. Last b-side is a remix of "Mulder And Scully (The Ex-Files)", which strips off the guitars and drums and replaces them with plastic candy floss synth and ambient beats, thus missing the point by several thousand feet.

Rating: 8/10

"Overblown" by Libido

Merseybeat from Scandanavia now. A Nordic LA's for the post-Britpop generation, Libido produce this tasty little number with a flourish. Classic three-minute guitar pop, it is breaking no new grounds, but it's tune and charm are infectious enough to warrant a high mark. One-hit wonders though, mark my words.

Certainly if the b-sides are anything to go by. "Choking" is an over-ambitious histrionic thing that sounds like The Wonder Stuff on downers, whilst "Time Of The Month" (oh, these New Lads), is a forgettable, slightly offensive little song that is best forgotten.

Rating: 7/10

"My Hero" by Foo Fighters

A song about Kurt, apparently, but you'd think it was about Bob Mould the way it sounds so much like Husker Du. A song you keep waiting to explode, or to at least get somewhere, "My Hero" is one of the Foos more disappointing moments. Live, they are one of the most exciting bands around, and in the midst of the moshpit I think this would work, but on record it fails.

"Baker Street" (yes, that one) is on the b-side and is a competent rock cover of a song I always found intensely tedious. Guitar screech out the sax part like Guns N Roses at their most overblown, and I can safely say I will never play it again. "Dear Lover" is probably the best track on offer here, with its gentle tune and soft-sung vocals.

Rating: 6/10

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