The perfect antidote to crap weather and credit card bills (I'm going to have to sell the cat...), "Don't Falter" by Mint Royale and Lauren "Kenickie" Laverne shoots through grey clouds and red final demands like a laser-guided melody from the surface of the sun. A frisky St Etienne-ish tune backed up by flowery mini skirt happy words ("and as long as we've got each other, it's gonna be officially summer") and Lauren's fresh as a daisy vocals results in a jolt of sparkling lemon zestiness that shines sweetly from the top of this week's pile. Dig this one out again in a few months and you'll be heading off down the park with the car loaded up on Vimto and sherbet dib-dabs.
A daft bit of remixing around with the a-side (the "Mint Mix") follows, strapping on a dance beat and ping-ponging around the place like an kangaroo in a padded room. Fun, but not vital. "Phlump" takes position at the rear, another less-than-serious extra-strong Mint Royale runaround, phat and phunky without being phorgettable.
But the a-side here is the thing, and I defy it not to bring a smile to even the most miserable of faces.
Rating: 9/10
The Rest
Music to impersonate Elvis by. Taken from the "Man In The Moon" Andy Kauffman biopic soundtrack, "The Great Beyond" sees REM continue to prove their tunesmanship and several-miles-left-of-centre genius. Mellow, melting icicle verses surround a thumping heartbeat of a chorus that takes its melody and wraps it round your face until it's all you can hear. Stipe's vocals are as unmistakable as ever, as are the lyrics ("I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs, I'm tossing in punchlines that were never there"), and "The Great Beyond" is welcome material from a band that appear still to have much to offer.
A couple of live tracks from last year's Glasto appearance comprise the b-sides. "Everybody Hurts" is more spine-tingly live than on record, Stipe's at times faltering falsetto being swollen by the crowd singing along and one of the finest melancholic tunes ever written. You can practically smell the lighter fluid. "The One I Love" explodes like a firework display, lighting up the dark with magnificent multicoloured flashes of brilliance. All together now: "Fi-iiiiii-iiiiirrrr-re".
Rating: 9/10
I can hear you groaning already...
- Two sassy US gals that appear to have the collective age of some of my t-shirts.
- A tune more infuriatingly catchy than having a bluebottle stuck in your ear.
- Gloriously over-the-top older generation troubling lyrics ("Up yer butt with a coconut" - follow that, Thom Yorke)
- More attitood and retina-burning day glo style than a room full of S Club Sevens and Scooches.
- A video that looks like Sesame Street on seriously heavy drugs.
- Completely unnecessary and pointlessly fun remixes on the b-side.
- Their follow-up single is threatened to be called "E-Mail To My Ass".
What else could I give it but:
Rating: 9/10
I thank you.
Good grief, this is a blast from the past. Kate Bush sampling sound monkeys Utah Saints reappear out the tar pits with "Love Song", lumbering around behind the further evolved likes of Fatboy and The Chems and trying to keep up.
It's not that bad actually, but still reeks a bit of the kids gone mad with a sequencer odour that plagued their previous releases. I think I saw this crew "live" about 10 years ago, and then they were perfect technofied pantomime (although that might just have been the lager...), gonking around like Furbies stuck on the wrong speed. Here though, they are more than a little mundane and - well - boring, really.
What else would you expect other than a couple of remixes on the b-side?
Expect the Altern 8 revival next week.
Rating: 5/10
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