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SINGLE OF THE MONTH!
COSMIC ROUGH RIDERS - "Justify The Rain"
A shock winner here. For one thing, this is a song we've heard before on the Cosmics' "Too Close To See Far" album but, as you'll gather from reading this column, the competition this month has been surprisingly poor. So we shall give this genuinely pleasant song the award simply because it doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is - a breezy summery singalong with a chorus which will embed itself in your head on the first listen and stubbornly refuse to shift. That, after all, is what it's about, right kids? Erm, kids?... (5/5)
THE REST
Goths. They seem to be everywhere these days. And, kicking us off this month we have prime example of how to do goth wrongly in the form of Evanescence's dire "Going Under" (1/5) which is essentially the same as the previous single except, thankfully, with the terrible rap bits removed although it still doesn't make Amy Lee's eyeball-gougingly annoying drama queen operatics any less annoying. They'd have been better advised to listen to Marilyn Manson's "This Is The New Shit" (4/5) which is a prime slice of downright evil party-down panto-goth-horror-schlock and rather fun to go with it.
Right at the other end of the spectrum is Dido's stultifyingly dull aural wallpaper new single "White Flag" (1/5) which is so cripplingly inoffensive that you could market it as a copy of the Daily Mail. We would have expected a bit better of the other main pop titan in the arena this month Christina Aguilera but given that her previous three singles have actually been pretty damn good, "Can't Hold Us Down" (2/5) is a bit of a disappointment although doubtless it's still ten times better than the new Britney album will be. And speaking of Britney, her one-time beau Justin feckin' Timberlake is in here too with another dismal slice of R'n'B lite in the form of "Senorita" (1/5) Really, does anybody actually care? Thought not.
Right, that's the pop fluff out of the way, let's get back to business. McLusky have a new single out this month in the form of "Undress For Success" (3/5) which is just as enjoyably off-kilter as ever. If only a few more bands could make lo-fi records that actually sound fun, eh? Instead, we get dull-as-ditchwater acoustic stuff like Alfie's "Stuntman" (2/5) which, while not pure evil, will have evaporated from your head approximately five seconds after it's finished. At least fellow acoustic mumblers I Am Kloot have the good grace to come up with chorus of the month on their newie "Three Feet Tall" (3/5) which goes "Three feet tall/With a head like a bowling ball". Class.
That could, of course be a reference to Fred Durst who also returns to these pages this month with a new Limp Bizkit single "Eat You Alive" (2/5) Which is basically the same old nu-metal misogynist tripe except (and here's the twist) with the guitars turned up a bit louder. Below average. But at least it's better than Linkin Park's umpteenth single from the dire "Meteora" album "Numb" (1/5) which is the usual self-pitying faux-teenage angst bollocks. In a just world, those responsible would be flayed alive before being gently lowered into a deep vat of battery acid. As it is, it'll probably just get to number 22 and then disappear again, hopefully the faster the better. You'd be better off checking out the Foo Fighters' new single "Have It All" (3/5) which, while not exactly the strongest cut off their excellent "One By One" album, is still a million miles better than anything Chester Bennington and co will ever do. The Deftones' "Hexagram" (2/5) meanwhile is typical of their recent work - nice riff, no tune.
Also heading across the Atlantic this month to offer us new goods are the Yeah Yeah Yeahs whose "Maps" (2/5) single which is evidently supposed to be some sort of comedown blues lament but, when it's played with all the subtlety and grace of a jackhammer being shoved up a rhino, just sounds messy. Ah, the perils of being a one-dimensional band, eh? Better stuff in the US imports section can be found from AFI's "Leaving Song" (3/5) which is dark, gothy but at least has a tune behind it, and Rancid's "Fall Back Down" (4/5) which is a sterling punk effort from Tim Armstrong and co. putting a good deal of the rest of the US so-called "punk" scene to shame. Elsewhere, Less Than Jake get it right at the second attempt with releasing singles from the "Anthem" album with "The Science Of Selling Yourself Short" (4/5) which masks its desperate lyrics about alcoholism with parping horns in the way that only LTJ really can. On a similar tip, US punk also-rans the Ataris have decided that covering Don Henley's "Boys Of Summer" (2/5) would make for a good idea. It doesn't but it's still a fair bit better than the DJ Sammy remix of earlier in the year. Which is a small victory of sorts I s'pose.
Drifting back into the indie orbit (oh alright, if we must) the Bandits' "2-Step Rock" (2/5) is essentially a poor man's "Pass It On" by the Coral. If they wanted to see how to do this whole West Coast thing properly then they should really be listening to Tim Burgess' new single "I Believe In The Spirit" (4/5) which is the soundtrack of the summer that crucial two months too late, and taking some notes. Elsewhere, the Webb Brothers' "Ms Moriarty" (2/5) is tiresome jangly sub-Fountains of Wayne stuff while Snow Patrol's "Spitting Games" (3/5) is pretty much their usual moody acoustic stuff which is passable enough.
The Wannadies return again this month with the not entirely unpleasant "Disko" (3/5) which will once again have the words "kitsch", "kooky" and "Swedish" springing to mind like the phrase "tosser" does when you think of Pete from the Libertines. Best of the bunch of off-kilter indie this month though comes from the Electric Soft Parade whose "Things I've Done Before" (4/5) sees them continuing the promise shown on the "Holes In The Wall" album and hopefully suggests good things for the new LP. Athlete's "You Got The Style" (2/5) meanwhile, makes a brave attempt to rip off Ian Dury and the Blockheads' earlier work but doesn't quite carry it off. Ah well.
We were actually quite quietly excited about Lowgold's comeback single "We Don't Have Much Time" (2/5) given that their "Just Backwards Of Square" album was one of the great forgotten treasures of 2001 but sadly, this meandering slice of indie unambitiousness is a pale reflection of earlier triumphs. Shame. Better by far is Shack's pleasant Arthur Lee-indebted "Byrds Turn To Stone" (4/5) which, in a more just world, would be outselling dismal third division Verve soundalikes like Starsailor's "Silence Is Easy" (2/5) rather than being rapidly consigned to the bargain buckets of this nation's record shops. No justice mate, no justice...
Mopping up what's left then, Muse's "Time Is Running Out" (4/5) is an excellently unhinged space-rock odyssey which only narrowly lost out on this month's SOTM award, Stellastarr's "Jenny" (2/5) is a ham-fisted attempt to rip off Echo and the Bunnymen which inevitably falls somewhat flat, Placebo's "Special Needs" (3/5) is one of the more average cuts from the "Sleeping With Ghosts" album which is only really worth buying if you don't have the LP already but Kinesis' "One Way Mirror" (4/5) is an unexpected triumph, a riff-heavy scowlathon that recalls the Manics back when they were good. Cool. But avoid the Features' dire "Beginning EP" (2/5) which somehow mixes all the worst bits about prog rock and big coat '80s indie and is, frankly, crap.
Feeder's fourth effort from the "Comfort In Sound" album, "Find The Colour" (4/5) is actually the most upbeat thing they've released for a while and all the better for it. It deserves to be a hit so fingers crossed... Also good fun and worth checking out is the Dirtbombs' "Motor City Baby" (4/5) which puts these sleaze-punks up there with the Star Spangles in the running for the Johnny Thunders award for making drone rock sound half-decent again.
It doesn't really matter what we tell you about The Darkness' new (or rather re-released) effort "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" (3/5) as it's almost certainly gonna storm the charts anyway but for the record it ain't as good as the previous two (I still say "Love Is Only A Feeling" should've been the new single). My advice? Wait for their Christmas effort "Don't Let The Bells End" and stick it up evil soulless tossers like Westlife who think they're gonna walk the festive number one big time. Heh heh heh...
All singles reviewed by Andy James
