I must admit I'd not heard any of Ruby's stuff before...I loved Silverfish,
Lesley Rankine's previous band, and had read she'd 'done a Bjork',
but hadn't got round to sampling Salt Peter: now I will be doing so at the first
opportunity. This is top stuff...musically, it's like a softer Nine Inch Nails or
similar industrial vibe, with Rankine's remarkably warm and melodic vocals
(compared to Silverfish) over the top. Nice production mix too - all the sounds/vox
in the record are crystal clear and work together well.
Rating: 9/10
The Rest
Summer's here...or so Pizzicato Five want us to think. This kicks in with "Happy Sad",
a groove worthy of Sly & the Family Stone (or several other bands I wish I knew more about...)
and an infectious severely-upbeat dance number from this Japanese group.
The other stand-out track on the EP is "CDJ", a disco-tinged track a little reminiscent
of Deee-Lite.
More happy than sad, definitely.
Rating: 8/10
This is the band's Peel Session from March this year
and is a great sampler of their current sound - lyrically
evocative and musically sparse and dirty (as in grunge). The Auteurs however,
must be one of the most underrated bands about; when they first came on the scene
with "Showgirl" they were always in Suede's shadow, and never really managed to make
the bigtime the same way their peers did. A real shame, as now Luke Haines has hinted
the band could be splitting up soon. If that's the case, this EP is a typically
uncommercial and defiant two-fingers at the scene as they go.
Rating: 8/10
Who are this lot then? Never 'eard of 'em... It's a nice lush
(with a small 'l') indie-pop tune - female vocals, with a very American sound and a little
like Belly or Juliana Hatfield. This is one of those songs that sounds as though the lyrics
should be all sweetness and light, but in fact they deal with dark matters - the sort of
things Pixies songs used to go on about. No classic, but nice all the same
Rating: 7/10
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