HeadCleaner Single Reviews

30th August 1999

"The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring

The Offspring have unceremoniously safety-pinned a big festering collection of old punk tunes together here, the end result being the fantastically over-the-top, parent-worrying pastiche of killer riffs, vocal sneers & "woah woahs", disaffected youth lyrics, pneumatic drumming and more attitude than a locked room full of glue-sniffing baboons. The Offspring may not be subtle, but they're more than adept at what they do: digging up the rotting corpse of punk and injecting methadone straight into its bulging veins. For that, I thank them.

The b-side is a rabble-rousing live "Walla Walla", a US punk paean to the pen ("cos prison is kool, right?"). Also on the CD is the video to "Pretty Fly", which - although I've seen it so many times on MTV I can rerun it on my retinas at will - is still, well, pretty fly.

Rating: 8/10

"Start The Commotion" by The Wiseguys

The Wiseguys have gone absolutely sample crazy here: mixing hip hop, crunchy bass metal riffs, trumpets, 60s-ish doo wop harmonies and several other cheesily addictive loops into something greater than the sum of its parts. The kind of thing that will appeal to fans of the Fatboy, and also the kind of thing that's perfectly suited to kicking back to with a bottle of Bud (no wait, that was their last one...)

"Cowboy '78" comes galloping into town next, all Sergio Leonne panoramic technicolor, Lee Van Cleef sneers and Spanish guitars laced with techno beats. Kind of like Basement Jaxx's "Rendez-Vu" with the subtlety hacked off with a machete. The full version of "Start The Commotion" (the a-side is an edit) draws things to a lengthy close, adding little different to the shortened version.

Does exactly what it says on the tin (25% extra bass free).

Rating: 7/10

"Rhythm & Blues Alibi" by Gomez

Gomez continue to peddle their undoubtedly worthy and studied but ultimately rather dull wares with "Rhythm & Blues Alibi". Nothing too offensive here, with its slow-picked slide guitars and sinking-into-the-bayou vibe, but this is not going to make it onto anyone's compilation tape of 1999, unless its Tom Waits' "The Best Songs Blatantly Stealing What I Do Album In The World Ever" (available whilst stocks last).

"The Best In The Town" follows, a ponderous and plodding affair that sounds scarily like horrible old early 80s US AOR - if Gomez don't watch out, they'll provoke a Sigue Sigue Sputnik revival...Indeed, "So" makes me desperately want to dig out my old copy of "Love Missile F1-11", with its seriousness bordering on the pretentious.

And they all need haircuts.

Rating: 4/10

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