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SINGLE OF THE MONTH!
ELECTRIC SIX - "Gay Bar"
It was a close-run thing sure but we had to give it to Electric Six in the end just because this single deserves to be number one for the rest of the summer if there's any justice. Starting up with a deranged banjo-twang, it suddenly kicks in with a double-heavy riff while lead singer Dick Valentine starts screaming lyrics like "You're a superstar/So we're gonna spend all your money at a GAY BAR GAY BAR!" Tatu are, as you read this, crying into their vodka and lemonades and a legend is well and truly born. Mr Valentine, we salute you. (5/5)
THE REST
3 Colours Red will be gutted at missing out on this month's Single of the Month award - like we said, it was a close run thing. Despite this, you should still buy "Repeat To Fade" (4/5) which proves to be one of their strongest moments yet, mixing Pete Vuckovic's taut vocals with a bonecrushing riff from Chris McCormack and Paul Grant. An excellent comeback.
Also on the comeback trail this month are Brummie Rimmel-punk types King Adora with the double A-side "Born To Lose"/"Kamikaze" (4/5) which combines more menace and energy than nearly anything they came up with first time around. Well worth a shot.
Elsewhere, Kings Of Leon sound like Queens of the Stone Age on Mogadon on the "What I Saw" EP (2/5) which is eminently forgettable while Mew's "Am I Wry?" (1/5) sounds like, erm, Chapterhouse which is even worse. As for Turin Brakes' slice of none-more-indie jangliness that is "Average Man" (2/5), just remove the word "Man" from the title and you've got a more concise description of the thing than we could ever possibly manage.
London new-wave-of-new-wave-of-new-wave types Klang feature ex-Elastica guitarist Donna Matthews among their ranks and "LOVE" (3/5) is no bad effort, a bit like an eminently less punchable Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Bit of work here and there and there's nothing to suggest they may go on to bigger things. Unlike Matthews' old drinking buddy Lisa Moorish whose new band Kill City look dead certs to head straight back to nowhere if the ultra-tired fifth division Britpop of "Strychnine" (1/5) is the best they can manage.
At least you can always count on good ol' Marilyn Manson for a bit of controversy - "(M)Obscene" (4/5), one of the better tracks off the otherwise rather disappointing "Golden Age Of Grotesque" album at least sounds pretty damn heavy in the presence of some of the disappointing company it's been forced to keep in this month's singles pile. Also on the comeback trail, Billy Corgan's Zwan return with single number three in the form of "Lyric" (3/5). It's breaking no new ground that Corgan hasn't trod before with the Smashing Pumpkins but it's got a good enough tune to carry it. Unlike goth-nu-metal types Evanescence whose "Bring Me To Life" (1/5) single is basically Linkin Park with a wannabe drama queen girl on vocals. Wow, that's a radical concept - not.
Indie types Medium 21 continue to plough a solid if unremarkable furrow with their fourth single "By My Side" (3/5) which would be helped immensely if they removed the helium tube from the lead singer's gob while !!!'s "Me And Giuliani Down By The Schoolyard" (1/5) is tenth rate sub-Fischerspooner arse. They've been getting lots of press in the NME apparently which probably says everything. At least sub-Turin Brakes types I Am Kloot appear to be heading in the right direction - having now ditched their previous acoustic mumbling and got some electric guitars, "Life In A Day" (3/5) could just be the single that finally breaks them. Well, maybe...
Meanwhile, over at the "Hype Hype Hype" department, The Thrills' "Big Sur" (3/5) actually turns out to be a decent enough stab at pop-punk which is way more convincing than many of their US counterparts like Blink 182 will ever manage. Still not as good as The Darkness, mind, who's "Growing On Me" (4/5) stomps through like AC/DC on helium while packing a riff which pretty much invites you to go cruising down Route 66 in a Cadillac. Ace.
Amazingly, Reef's comeback "Waster" (4/5) is rather good as well - easily the heaviest and angriest thing they've ever done and all the better for it. Unlike The Wannadies who, if their new 45 "Skin" (2/5) is anything to go by, are still bumbling along pretending it's 1996 with all the grace of a dinosaur which hasn't quite realised it's extinct yet.
Back in the rock corner, AFI turn in a reasonable Offspring-type slab of pop-punk (pop-punk? AFI? The mind boggles...) with "Girl's Not Grey" (3/5) which sounds like Good Charlotte being hog-tied and slaughtered by Queens of the Stone Age. Not an unpleasant sound all told. Meanwhile, if you can listen to the chorus of Linkin Park's abysmal "Faint" (1/5) where Chester Bennington screams "Don't turn your back on me!/I will not be ignored!" without bursting into a fit of sniggering then please get in touch with us here at "The Vault" 'cos we sure as hell couldn't. You'd be better off taking a listen to The Blueskins who, according to some (well, okay, the three of us here at the Vault) are destined to be the new Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster if the superbly deranged psychobilly squeal of "User-Friendly" (4/5) is anything to go by.
Kinesis' "Forever Reeling" (2/5) sounds like a punked-up version of Muse but somehow doesn't really satisfy the way it should although Placebo continue the most unlikely revival of the year with the New Order-gone-goth electro-bleeps of "This Picture" (3/5) which shows Molko and co to be clawing their way back to being quite good again slowly but surely. Unlike the Red Hot Chili Peppers whose new single "Universally Speaking" (2/5) is shamefully almost exactly the same as their last one the "Zephyr Song" (do we smell exploitation bullshit? I think we do-do) and as such deserves to be ignored by all and sundry. Which, unfortunately, it probably won't be. The same goes for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs who are still peddling their increasingly tired faux-junkie schtick on "Pin" (1/5) with Karen O singing like a Rottweiler at last orders in the council estate pub while her two bandmates play as if they've just fallen into the bins outside after two many pints. Ewww, not good.
The Flaming Lips' "Fight Test" (2/5) is four minutes of utterly inconsequential jangling (again) which, at least, is nowhere near as awful as their hideously anaemic "Yoshimi" single while Athlete's mysteriously popular post-Oasis chunder continues with the "predictable as yer mum" chod of "Westside" (2/5) which is probably of interest to disenfranchised Cast fans only.
Cosmic Rough Riders meanwhile continue to plough their increasingly lonely Scots-indie furrow with "Because You" (3/5). The surprising thing is that it's actually rather good - a winsome slice of Byrdsian harmonies even if it does rip off Teenage Fanclub's "God Knows It's True" rather obviously. Meanwhile, fellow indie types Clearlake continue their tradition of making good solid indie singles without really threatening to set the world on fire with the darker-than-normal-but-still-undeniably-Clearlake "Come Into The Darkness" (3/5)
Back in the metal corner, Metallica's "St Anger" (3/5) single is six minutes of unashamed bile-spewing riff-slinging old-skool metal and all the better for it while the Icarus Line sound like the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster with no tunes on the rather poor "Love Is Happiness" (2/5) single.
Still in the metal spectrum are One Minute Silence who are clearly aiming to build on finishing as runners-up for February's Single of the Month award (Christ, that must have been a quiet month!). Surprisingly, "I Wear My Skin" (4/5) is surprisingly good as well sounding like "Digging The Grave" era Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine and System of a Down having a dust-up in a bedsit in Wandsworth and packing enough lyrical punch to send the Datsuns packing back to Oz with their tails between their legs.
Foo Fighters, meanwhile, continue to produce good satisfying rock tunes with a nice amount of low-end crunch with "Low" (4/5) If you miss it, don't worry, you'll doubtless be hearing it at a lot of festivals this summer as the sun sinks below the horizon. Unlike The Warlocks who's "Shake The Dope Out" (3/5) is probably destined to be dismissed as second division Datsuns. More fool the critics 'cos this none-more-scuzzy garage rock is actually pretty damn good.
Briefly stopping over (if we must) at the pop depot, it appears that this month's battle is to become (shudder!) the Brit Avril Lavigne. Oh dear. As it turns out, ex-Sugababe Siobhan Donaghy comes up with a just about okay-ish middleweight slice of guitar-girl scowling with "Over-Rated" (2/5) which leaves Amy Studt's dismal slice of caterwauling that is "Misfit" (1/5) for dust. Don't get too cocky though Siobhan, we still think that one Avril is more than enough...
At least with the Donnas, you know what you're getting - the sound of Joan Jett's four long-lost daughters rocking like it's 1976 all over again. There's nothing new about "Who Invited You?" (4/5) and it's not even the best track on the album but hearing Donna A sing "We don't care if you think our party isn't cool/And we don't care if you had more fun at Sunday school" is still more capable of bringing a smile to your face than anyone else (possibly bar Electric Six) this month.
All singles reviewed by Andy James
