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SINGLE OF THE MONTH!
THE WHITE STRIPES - "Seven Nation Army"
Oh yes, we know they get all the press in the NME at the expense of Brit bands but unlike a lot of their US counterparts, Jack and Meg White are that most rare of commodities in that they genuinely deserve it. I mean, really, what is there not to like about "Seven Nation Army"? Ushering itself in on an earth-levelling bassline before Jack's raw-as-you-like vocals kick in, it's the White siblings at their most coherent and powerful and it feckin' well ROCKS. In the words of Jack himself - "Everyone knows about it from the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell!" Too right mate. (5/5)
THE REST
And the silver medal this month goes to...the Bluetones! Yeah, you heard. Back after a short absence, "Fastboy" (4/5) is another genuinely likeable song from Hounslow's finest with an infectious "So c'mon!" chorus that'll embed itself in your brain and stubbornly refuse to leave. Good stuff.
On the downside, Queens of the Stone Age's "Go With The Flow" (3/5) is a bit of a disappointment, lacking the punch of "No-One Knows" in favour of a heavy but somewhat anonymous three-minute downbeat lament. Still, it took me a few listens to get the "Songs For The Deaf" album so give it time...
Meanwhile, The Faint's "Agenda Suicide" (3/5) gets a re-release and all those seeking a desperately nervy slice of electronica with a Damon from Blur soundalike should check it out. Alternatively, you could just go for the real thing as Blur return this month sans Graham Coxon with a new single "Out Of Time" (3/5) Not a world-beater but it passes three minutes nicely enough.
Moving into the rawk corner, Audioslave follow up "Cochise" with the not entirely dissimilar but still pretty damn good "Like A Stone" (4/5) while the best thing about One Minute Silence's new 'un "We Bounce" (2/5) is the opening line of "If I can kill/Can I not be the President too?". Bit of a shame the rest of it is predictable-as-you-like rap metal chod. Similarly, Inme's "Neptune" (2/5) is simply a crap Silverchair retread which isn't made any easier on the ears by having a lead singer who sounds as if he's having his larynx shredded with a cheesegrater and Glassjaw's "Ape Dos Mil" (2/5) is the sound of four blokes who fell for the hype that At The Drive In were any good rather than just a bunch of muso wankers who thought that adding some heavy riffs would make their obtuse musings any more palatable. But the Golden Turd Award for this month unquestionably has to go to the odious Good Charlotte whose "Girls And Boys" (1/5) has to contain some of the worst, most banal faux-teenage "I can't get laid" lyrics of this year and is quite possibly the sound of four men, all of whom have yet to have a sexual experience.
Cut from similar cloth although marginally better are skate-punk one-hit wonders American Hi-Fi who return with "The Art Of Losing" (2/5) It's inoffensive but entirely forgetful and surely that was never the point with this sort of music. Which at least is not something you could accuse the Yeah Yeah Yeahs of. Unfortunately, you could quite easily accuse their new single "Date With The Night" (2/5) of being a load of tuneless yowly crap which would sound a lot better if they had a lead singer who didn't sound like she'd just had a chance meeting with the local electrocutioner. Ho hum. On a similar note, the Kills have chosen possibly the worst month in question to release the White Stripes soundalike (oh jeez, not another one!) "Fried My Little Brain" (3/5) as...yup, you've guessed it, the White Stripes have made a comeback themselves this month. Woah, what were the odds eh?
If you must buy a rock single this month then make it Therapy?'s new 'un "If It Kills Me" (4/5) which is easily the heaviest thing they've done for ages and makes most of the young pretenders to their throne look like a bunch of wussy Rival Schools fans. Good work fellas.
Stopping over at the pop corner for a couple of minutes, at least Robbie Williams has endeavoured to put a half-memorable tune on his new single "Come Undone" (2/5) although asking us to sympathise with a bloke who's in a position priveleged enough to go out, get as wasted as he wants every night and get his pick of the world's nicest-looking lasses is perhaps pushing the whole "I'm misunderstood" envelope a bit too far if you ask me. But at least it's better than Madonna's comeback single "American Life" (1/5) which is drony, forgettable trip-hop toss. One woman who desperately needs a time machine lift back to 1984.
Two people who are still desperately trying to make that elusive interesting record are Goldfrapp whose "Black Cherry" (2/5) single is about as memorable as the last half-dozen or so she's done (ie not very) and Badly Drawn Boy who makes a half-decent effort with "All Possibilities" (3/5) but it's just a bit too damn nice to really stand up against some of the competition this month. Better is the new single from Richard Hawley, "Run For Me" (4/5) which is a lovely widescreen "searching for lost love down that there open road" ballad which is quite simply great. And even in a world where Jack White is king, you can always make a few minutes in your schedule for something as downright lovely as this.
All singles reviewed by Andy James
