I'm in shock. Maybe it's cos there's not too much out this week, or maybe it's because ska has always lit my candle, but "ETTTGTGT" by
Glasgow tweecore noiseniks bis is this week's best single. Featuring vox from one of the glaikit looking blokes, the song has the good
sense to lock the fearful Manda Rin up in a box, opening it now and again to let her yelp out one syllable noises then shutting it again
fast. More pop energy and punk style than most of this week's horribly trad offerings put together, this is a fine song. It does not - I repeat not -
make me a bis fan however.
"Statement Of Intent" is the first b-side. It is ok, in an annoying shouty-wouty kind of way. "Girl Star?" is a new wave track sung(?) by Ms Rin.
I couldn't listen to it to the end. "Cookie Cutter Kid" is an obvious result of the band's much-vaunted meeting with the Beastie Boys and is
not bad at all.
Bloody hell, I'm away for a lie down.
Rating: 10/10
The Rest
The weakest track off Mansun's quite astoundingly good debut LP, "Taxloss" works better out of that record's sweeping context and as
a standalone single. Squeezing some wonderfully evocative guitar noises from their instruments, the boys trot out a psychedelic-tinged
track about...er...not really sure, actually. Quite what "mud rock junk pop chart hop mop top swap shop" is supposed to mean beats me.
Perhaps Mansun just opened their big dictionary of one-syllable words at random and wrote down what they saw. Nevertheless, this is a
heady and intoxicating song that oozes out of your speakers like liquid gold.
The first CD (featuring an extended version of "Taxloss"), has "Grey Lantern" as the first b-side, and is a weird lo-fi shambler: an
attack from this wouldn't be that effective (although it does have some fab Joe 90-style guitars. Last on this platter is the Lisa Marie Experience remix of "Taxloss":
a marvellous echoing seventies groovathon that takes the track to the disco and feeds it cheap champagne.
The second CD (featuring the radio edit of "Taxloss"), opens the b-sides with "The Impending Collapse Of It All", a cacophony of guitars
and muddled vocals cooked together to form a compelling and driving song. A live version of "Ski Jump Nose" (which opens with the same
Bond theme-like instrumental featured on the LP, before exploding into a fast-paced punky number) and a shimmering acoustic "Wide Open
Space" close the CD.
Mansun, so long runts of the litter, have blossomed into a wonderfully exciting and innovative band: this year's Manics, at the very
least.
Rating: 9/10
One of the most affecting and emotional tracks from their recent LP, this sees Gene in no-holds-barred widescreen romantic epic mode:
this is what The English Patient would be if it was a song and not a film. "I'm incapable of breathing, incapable of love" sings
Martin as the guitars build around him in what is a moving and poignant bit of songwriting. David Gedge, Morrissey and countless others
have made their livings from peddling bedsit angst and tales of failed relationships, but Rossiter seems to really mean it, giving him and
Gene a sense of validity and heartfelt passion. A square peg they may be, but the world would be duller without them.
On the b-side is "Cast Out In The Seventies", a sad lament for wasted lives wrapped round a barbed and majestic musical backing. Last
is a piano-led cover of REM's "Nightswimming" which, although sounding a little lounge singer-ish, is still impressive.
Rating: 7/10
Dave Grohl and band thunder onto the scene with this Ramones-like stoppy starty poppy punky thingy. 1-2-3-4! The N band's influence
can still be heard, but not as loudly as on Foo Fighter's last LP. This is the sound of a band speeding out into their own territory, heads
down, guitars out and no messing.
On the b-side is "Up In Arms (Slow Version)", a slow (surprise) song, with understated vocals and soft guitars that is haunting and
melodic. Other extra track is the feedback-drenched "The Colour And The Shape", a punk rock speed metal shriekfest. I like.
Rating: 7/10
Ride, with their floppy fringes and kaleidescopic effects pedals, were one of my favourite bands, capable of producing mighty landscapes of
sound in which you could lose yourself for hours. Hopes were therefore high for this single from ex Ride member Andy Bell's new band.
Unfortunately, this is merely Oasis-influenced guitar rock with a bit more emphasis on the distortion pedal than the Gallaghers' outfit. Nothing special,
and certainly nothing close to Ride's best, it is more of a slight breeze than a hurricane. Andy Bell out of Erasure could probably make a
more interesting indie-guitar track...
"Don't Look Away" on the b-side is slightly better, being a punkier thing that sounds like Squeeze on an angry day. "Smoke Rings" is
a horrible Led Zeppelin style number, weighing in at a stamina-pounding 8 minutes. I'll just go back to my Ride LPs now, thank you very
much.
Rating: 6/10
I've never been one for all that muso drivel about genius guitar players such as Johnny Marr or - in this case - ex-Stone Roses member
John Squire. What's important in music is whether the song's good, not whether someone can play a 7th minor sus chord with their
teeth whilst balancing a goldfish bowl on their chin. And sadly, "Love Is The Law" is not a good song, being a second-rate
60s-influenced track that doesn't really get anywhere. "The Stone Roses" was an LP full of mighty monumental slices of moment-defining
class, songs which the likes of Noel Gallagher can only listen to and wish. "The Second Coming" was the sound of a band that had lost
direction and enthusiasm. "Love Is The Law" is merely boring. A great disappointment.
The b-sides are not much cop either, being two largely tuneless numbers over which the vocalist (sounding just like Ian Brown, but
after a course of singing lessons) desperately tries to sustain interest. "Sale Of The Century", with its "Yellow Submarine"-era Beatles
influences, is slightly better than "Dreamer", but on the whole this is a very uninspiring record.
Rating: 5/10
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