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SINGLE OF THE MONTH!
THE WILDHEARTS - "So Into You"
Since Newcastle's most insane pop-metal quartet reformed a couple of years back, they've put out a couple of good singles but you're still left with a feeling that they've not yet delivered a killer blow. Happy to say that "So Into You" should solve that particular problem - it truly is a gold-bollocked classic all the way with a meaty chugging riff exploding firework-style into a star-spangled chorus and some damn fine lyricisms along the way - "I like that you got bigger balls than almost all of the Special Forces/And I need you leavin' me like UFO's need horses!" Blokey from the Darkness take note - the old-timers have just raised the bar quite impressively effortlessly. Nice one. (5/5)
THE REST
Okay so we know they've gone through a lot in the last year but still there was no need for this. Considering Feeder walked away with January's Single of the Month, having them follow it up with "Forget About Tomorrow" (2/5) which is basically U2's "Beautiful Day" with slightly different words, is a bit of a comedown to put it mildly. Mind you, on the other side of the equation, everyone was expecting the Dandy Warhols' "We Used To Be Friends" (4/5) to be another doped-out snoozeathon but it's actually a rather ace Prince-style funkathon which slithers through just like it's-a-1984 all over again. Cool.
Also on the comeback trail this month, Shed Seven whose "Why Can't I Be You?" (3/5) might as well have been called "Disco Down part 2" but still not that bad and the Inspiral Carpets whose "Come Back Tomorrow" (3/5) is more of the vaguely passable Farfisa-fuelled post-Madchester stuff which goes to prove that however many bands in black leather jackets come over from NYC there will always be a certain element of quintessentially English indie to piss off the NME coming from places like Oldham and York. Which gives you a nice kind of warm glow of security inside if you think about it...
The dark side of this comes when we get dreary Coldplay soundalikes like Keane desperately trying to hitch a ride on the gravy train before it crashes with limpid dirges like "Everybody's Changing" (2/5) and lo-fi clutter-rock like Mower's new song "After Dark" (2/5) which I think might have a half-decent tune buried underneath all the sloppy electronic chod although I couldn't really bear to listen to it too closely. A bit better is "Clap Clap Clap", the new single from the Ambershades (3/5), which initially sounds like a jaunty piece of Clearlake style upbeat indie until you listen to the lyrics and realise it's about the loneliness of post-drugs comedowns. Which at least makes for a half-interesting listen.
Upbeat noise and downbeat lyrics...hmmm, sounds a bit like Less Than Jake that does. Oh look, they're in here as well! Unfortunately, "She's Gonna Break Soon" (2/5) is no "All My Best Friends Are Metalheads" or "Gainesville Rock City". In fact the word that springs to mind is "disposable". Must do better. As must fellow skate-punks Nada Surf whose "Inside Of Love" (2/5) is an instantly forgettable slice of sub-Weezer geek rock. C'mon lads, try some original ideas of your own, it couldn't hurt you.
Original ideas is not something you'd associate with pop music nowadays - a genre so tame it can even reduce so-called "controversial" lesbo-pop bands like Tatu to chuck out fourth-rate Europop slosh like "Not Gonna Get Us" (1/5) which is more irritating than having all four limbs infected with scabies. But one band who do pull it off are reality TV pop types Girls Aloud whose "No Good Advice" (4/5) appears to be a glam-pop update of the Knack's "My Sharona" and is unexpectedly brilliant. By dint of this it now finds itself up there with Liberty X's "Being Nobody" in the early stakes for Pop Single Of The Year That It's Okay To Like. It's certainly more fun to listen to than yet another slice of downtuned whining from Thom Yorke as evidenced by Radiohead's dire new 'un "There There" (1/5) which you can watch creep into the Top 10 in much the same way as rabies creeps into untended farm animals and wonder exactly who's buying this crap.
Y'know what we need? We need some RRRRAAAWWWWKKKK. And by jove we've got it with Turbonegro's excellent "Fuck The World" (4/5) which sounds like a collision between Alcatraz and Gibraltar and quite simply should be very near the top of your shopping list. Unfortunately, it makes the ever-diligent Hell Is For Heroes' "Retreat" (3/5) which we listened to next seem somewhat dull by comparison so sorry lads but them's the breaks.
Built from similar materials as HIFH are Serafin whose newie "Things Fall Apart" (3/5) can't quite decide if it wants to be grunge or Flamin' Groovies style West Coast indie-pop. Once they've sorted their identity crisis out they should be okay. At least they're more ambitious than tired-sounding Stones wannabes Jet whose "Dirty Sweet EP" (2/5) I can only assume is some sort of evil attempt to get a pub rock revival going and should therefore be avoided unless you think sounding like the Kursaal Flyers is something to aspire to. Even the Stereophonics' newie "Madame Helga" (3/5) sounds modern by comparison although in all fairness it packs a decent riff and is one of the better things they've produced in recent years. Although given that their last comeback was spearheaded by the godawful "Mr Writer" it possibly wasn't gonna take too much effort to look good this time.
On the heavier side of the metal front, the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster's new single "Chicken" (3/5) is a bit disappointing but considering how amazing the last three have all been it's perhaps inevitable they were gonna slip up slightly at some point. Similarly, the normally quite good Deftones' "Minerva" (3/5) has a decent riff but somehow that pogosity that characterised their best stuff like "My Own Summer" seems to be largely absent this time. Still, decent enough. Unlike former Skunk Anansie warbler Skin whose newie "Trashed" (1/5) appears to be a worrying attempt to become the black woman's Dido and should be given a wide berth.
Of the rest of this month's stuff, The Applicators' "Applicators EP" (3/5) consists of four suitably meaty slices of grrrl-punk and suggests good things to come from this lot, Mull Historical Society's "Am I Wrong?" (3/5) scores above average for reminding me of Mercury Rev's last album a bit which is always a good thing and finally McLusky's "Ain't No Fool In Ferguson" (4/5) is, as usual, a superbly twisted triumph with childish taunts stretched over a viciously lo-fi backing. Maybe it's indicative of the sad state indie finds itself in these days that just having some wit, imagination and balls in this field now sounds innovative. Anyone care to take up the challenge to change this?
All singles reviewed by Andy James
