Some UK cities seem to be hothouse breeding grounds for raw, innovative talent and diverse musical genius. Liverpool is one such city, as is Manchester. Edinburgh is not (apart from The Cleaners, obviously...) However - as all the best journalistic cliches go - The Lanterns could be the band to change all that and put Scotland's capital city on the musical map. Hailing from sunny Leith (land of Trainspotting, Hibernian football club and the legendary
Mermaids massage parlour), The Lanterns feature Jim Sutherland on instrument duties and the wonderful Rae sisters (Sylvia and Gina) on vocals. This results in a Human League-meets-St Etienne-meets-Sickboy melange of beats and harmonies, gently telling uncompromisingly gritty love stories full of bar-room fights and hard drinking in the afternoon. And all featuring the best Scottish accents heard on record since "Over The Sea" by Jesse Rae (no relation!). The sound angels make when they go out on the radge.
A Todd Terry mix of the a-side is the first extra track on offer, and pumps up the relative floatiness of the original, making it a faster and housier offering, though losing the effectiveness of the compelling mixture of ethereal music and hard-nosed vocals that the a-side captures so well. "Last Night" is third track, a wry bit of kitchen sink pop ("last night you broke in and did the hoovering, last night you hand-washed all my underwear") shot through with just a shadow of menace that reminds you never to pick a fight with the sisters Rae...
This is Scottish independence...
Rating: 9/10
Nearly every fibre of my being wants to hate Mr Cook and all he stands for: his whorish acceptance into the new alternative music royal family, and lowest common denominator straight for the jugular populist big beat bollocks. However, the fibres in my ears and that part of my brain that likes non-intellectual toe-tapping fun begs to differ, and applaud "Right Here, Right Now" for being more addictive than caffeine-injected jelly tots.
Everything you would expect from a Fatboy track is here - but for all the easy to criticise big beat cliches, there is much to praise (you). Not least the way the track slides effortlessly under your skin and subverts you from the inside out.
Pretty good video too - Darwinism taken to post-modern extreme.
B-sides are "Don't Forget Your Teeth", a funky 70s porn soundtrack style track that gets its beats out and flaunts them in your face; and the original version of "Praise You", not the relatively fast and fresh track we all know and love/hate, but a more ambient, spookier offering altogether. Difficult to imagine that geeky US
dance troupe doing "b-boy moves" to this one.
Next week - why Chris Evans is a really great bloke after all...
Rating: 7/10
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