"Someone Somewhere" by The Wannadies
The Wannadies continue to climb the Tree of Pop, getting within sight of the top with this
great song. Starting with a horn keyboard riff, this begins like a noisy guitar-driven version
of "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" (or the cover of that song, "Shakermaker"), this
continues on to a quiet keyboard accompanied chorus that, with the male and female vocals,
sounds uncannily like Prefab Sprout. Guitars and horn keyboard then take over, as the refrain
repeats to a climax. This makes the single like an opposite of grunge: loud, crunching verses
with a quiet chorus! A very strong single from Sweden's finest...until the new Cardigans single
comes out.
B-side "Why" has a similar loud guitar sound of the main track, hinting at a possible harder
direction for the band. Remaining track on the CD "Goodbye" is a softer, more meandering,
almost My Bloody Valentine-like track - not as impressive as the first two.
Rating: 9/10
The Rest
This single will always be remembered as the last Charlatans release to feature
Rob Collins on keyboards, and - poignantly - it starts with a prominent piano riff.
This is a mighty fine offering from The Charlatans - quite reminiscent of "The Only One I Know"
but with their latter-day Stones influences worn prominently on sleeve. Probably the best -
if not the only - survivors of Baggy, the band consistently release pleasing and well-written
chunks of funky indie rock, latterly turning into one of the country's more essential acts.
Hopefully, as the signs indicate, they will continue to prosper.
"Two of Us" is another typical Charlatans tune, with some nice lead guitar work and a
confident, cheerful tune. The remaining b-side "Reputation" is a slower, more blissed-out
offering - very mellow.
Rating: 9/10
The Heart Throbs meet The Bangles with this catchy single from Welsh outfit Catatonia.
One of the many acts bubbling under at the moment - desperately in need of either a big single
or a killer lp - Catatonia have released a potential hit here, with a great singalong chorus.
The only criticism is that it sounds a little dated - think Primitives, Darling Buds, The
Motorcycle Boy and you're close.
Slow and cool b-side "Do You Believe In Me?" is wonderful - perfect late-night fare featuring
almost Portishead-like vocals. "Dimran" is the other track here, sung in Welsh. It, like
Catatonia's other material, strongly evokes the sorely-missed Heart Throbs.
Rating: 9/10
As ironic a song as the Manics' "You Love Us" was when it was released, this is
Camden knees-up; Britpop singalong. It's The Monkees! It's Madness! It's the one that played
the piano out of Peanuts! (run with me on this one)...Nah, it's only Menswear. But a brave,
confident Menswear with an answer to their many critics with this cheap n cheerful disposable
single. Good on 'em.
B-side "Crash" is quite impressive: a stack-heeled slice of glam simultaneously sounding
like Suede, Numan and A-Ha (honest). I like it. Instrumental "Phat Kid Music" sounds like
some warped kids' TV theme tune (and actually quite good), and the final track "Hanging In
The Blue Sky" is, quite frankly, bizarre. Menswear backed by Pinky & Perky.
Forget the a-side - these Menswear blokes make great b-sides...
Rating: 8/10
The Band That Would Not Die, The Weddoes are now reduced to sticking out odd singles on any
label that'll have them (Cooking Vinyl in this instance). Like Menswear above, they steadfastly
ignore their critics and refuse to split up. And why should they? This is as good a song as any
David Gedge has written and, despite being 'formulaic' and 'workmanlike' - two of the criticisms
levelled at them - The Wedding Present have in the past couple of years output stuff that's
been experimental and exciting. Can you think of another band that could be criticised as
being 'formulaic' and 'workmanlike'? Clue: their name starts with 'O'.
B-sides are competent: "realthing" in particular being a plaintive and interesting track.
Female backing vocals add colour to all the songs on this ep, but Gedge's trademark yowl is
still prominent.
Rating: 7/10
After the surprise hit "Tattva" comes this, the follow-up. Stone Roses-style guitar and
rhythms back a fast-sung vocal leading up to - again - a very Roses-influenced chorus.
Not nearly as other-worldly or original as "Tattva", this is pretty disappointing - although
I can see it being another hit.
The b-sides are all pretty self-indulgent: an interview-preceded BBC session version of
"Tattva"; the hippy-drippy acoustic "Drop In The Sea"; and the frankly ridiculously
pretentious "Crispian Reading From The Mahabharata" (which, sadly, is exactly what you think
its going to be like - if not actually worse).
Nice cover though.
Rating: 4/10
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