Bastards, Hula Hoops, Oh My God - it can only be Singled Out!

At last Ash have provided us with something far better than Tim Wheeler’s silly little sleeveless t-shits. What is even better about this number is that the rest of Ash have buggered off once again and left us with the quite lovely Charlotte Hatherley. Not only have the band been put aside but, dear Charlotte has dished up ‘Bastardo’, a wonderful little ball of sweet and sticky pop joy, the second single to be lifted from debut L.P ‘Grey Will Fade’.  A delightful, bouncing teenage anthem that is about the loss of her much cherished Gibson S.G. Carry on Charlotte you look wonderful in sleeveless t-shirts.

 

Another contributor to the current “art rock” scene, Maximo Park give us perhaps the most catchy hook since you first heard, ‘Take Me Out’. Sex and death are two obsessions of singer/writer, Paul Smith, evident in the lyric, “You know that I would love to see you next year/I hope that I am still alive next year” and the frantic nature will surely secure ‘Apply Some Pressure’ as the next hit the on the U.K’s indie dance floors. This is a jaunty little number which I assure you will have thousands dancing on their toes and imitating dance move for months.

 

After witnessing this band live last week, and being rather disappointed, this record has got to have something special to reinstate the hype that this band has received. ‘She’s Got A Reason’ swallows and spits out so many rock stereotypes it should used to offend pensioners in bus queues. The cockney drool and crunchy guitars fall out with all the gusto of a sober Pete Doherty. This is a single much like granary bread, it doesn’t have the pure stodgy appeal of Kingsmill white, nor the health and nourishment of a plain brown loaf. However, for a short-lived but unhealthy bit of fun, Dogs will provide us with a quick fix worthy of a cheeky little scream and shout.

 

Sweden’s finest new act Mando Diao has impressively sold 250,000 records across the world - not bad for a band that is still awaiting real hype from music press. ‘You Can’t Steal My Love’ sounds like Johnny Borrell actually singing properly, a punk ballad with a naughty little guitar line that is more satisfying than a years subscription to a men’s magazine. A single worthy of much praise, and a refreshing reminder that Scandinavia has done more for us than simply provide us with Ulrika Johnson and Abba. 

 

Who doesn’t love a double A-Side single on a Monday morning? Whether they are utter shite or not, twice the laugh or twice the satisfaction is on the cards. The Cherubs, however would appear to have emerged from one of two possible backgrounds; 1. A world in which The Strokes never happened or, 2. Hibernation since 1999. Though even if The Cherubs are a tribute to New York’s finest export, they are a bloody good one. One can’t help but feeling that The Cherubs have missed the boat with ‘Club Hoola Hoop’s Walls/This Awful Morning’, but a damn good honest release that should be listened to with accepting ears.

 

In LCD Soundsytem’s world 1980’s synths and incredibly camp vocals are still cool. Not to be confused with Scissor Sisters new slant on camp dance, LCD’s new single is a mixture of house beats, funk and punk. All of these inputs would suggest that this is going to be a shit-hot single, however, ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ has one mighty catch; the house/dance beats far out-weigh the melody and the song deviates little from the same monotonous driving rhythm, basically it's quick to discover that this is going nowhere faster than a drug-fuelled raver. 

 

After the quite spectacular ‘I Predict A Riot’, the house of Kaiser had a real job on their hands to whack another tune out with the same ear-grabbing appeal. Though once again they deserve a mighty big pat on the back. ‘Oh My God’ has all the ingredients of a perfect pop song. The most catchy, and achingly cool verse which explodes into the spectacular chorus of “Oh my god, I can’t believe it, I’ve never been this far away from home”. A modern classic in the making, yes, we think so. What could possibly stand in the way between Kaiser Chiefs and world domination? Buy this single.

 

How long have Green Day been producing American teen punk? One has to congratulate them just for their unbelievable staying-power. Though what I refuse to do is give ‘Holiday’ any praise. Billie Joe seems to have the most amazing ability to write the same song for album after album and quite frankly, how the fuck does he get away with it? This is a classic example of over-kill and production-line music making. Do us all a favour, next time you see a young miss-led, Green Day hoody-wearing adolescent please, please, please point them towards sanity.

 

The Engineers are of a dying breed, and perhaps very closely related to Kevin Shields. This single is like a fresh version of a 1980’s cult classic lifted from a re-recording of any My Bloody Valentine album. Though, ‘Forgiveness’ is not just a song worthy of comparison, the melancholy vocals, and the floating strings and guitar most definitely stand on their own two feet. The atmosphere created by this song will encapsulate you so much so you will want to climb into your stereo simply to find solace. An amazing single that provokes real genuine emotion, a breath of fresh air in a world which also has The Black Velvets and Jet.

 

The Earlies, a bunch of very merry men and women, are perhaps the serious version of the Polyphonic Spree. ‘Bring It Back Again’ is a song full of lush harmony, and the chirpy little synth and drum combo is easy and refreshing on the ear - it sounds like a record produced by a man who has been stoned for 250 years. The Earlies have a simple quality to them, the naïve lyrics; “They chime like bells on a Sunday morning” prove that this band is anything but the regular “run-of-the-mill” in terms of sound and content. The Earlies are very obviously in it for the love of music and you should love ‘Bring It Back Again’.   

 

From the moment the incessant bass line of ‘Transmission’ kicks in suspicion arises to whether this song will do exactly the same thing for three and a half minutes. Ha, and surprise surprise it does.  The complete lack of any melodic content from Radio 4 in this song is almost as infuriating as the fact that this song was actually allowed out of the studio. In the dance/guitar/electronica genre we already have the gift of bands like The Rapture - Radio 4 should really be trying harder. The line in the song; “Digital Recording Heroes”, repeated over and over seems to convince Radio 4 that is what they are, however the sad reality is that with this song they most definitely are not.