Vintage Bands And Thom Yorke Impressions -It's Singled Out!

Single of the Week ! : It’s somewhat depressing that a group who’ve been plying their trade for 25 years plus, shit from an almighty height on the majority of other singles released this week. If we were being fastidious, we could say that ‘Krafty’ sees New Order regurgitating the same formula again. But we’re not, so let’s just say the band are playing to their strengths – with an impossibly catchy chorus, electronic beats and that Peter Hook bass line, ‘Krafty’ is destined to be ingrained into your psyche for a long time. So, despite the slight inconsistency of their forthcoming eighth album, ‘Waiting For the Sirens’, this is vintage New Order.

Kill City’s ‘Hooligans on E’ looks at the virtues of skinhead yobs taking a handful of beans and then suddenly becoming all affable and placid. Chic and ever-so-slightly Debbie Harry in style (but minus the sultry sophistication), vocalist Lisa Moorish rejoices “There’s no need to call an ambulance, were going home in a perfect ambience.” How twee! The tune itself is an unashamedly cheesy slice of jangly electro-pop that is perhaps only really buoyed because of the funny lyrics. Judging by her boundless enthusiasm for little fellas and eagerness to be ‘at one’ with the thugs, Moorish is obviously a novice at this drug ingesting lark. Handy tip love: don’t stick around for the come down - things could get pretty hairy!

When Gigwise first laid eyes on the promo copy of Gisli’s ‘The Day It Went Wrong’, this journalist thought it would be something very special, indeed. Plastered across the entire front of the CD is a massive, all engulfing, ‘PROMOTIONAL ONLY’ sticker. EMI were obviously worried we’d get so excited about the tune that we’d fleece countless copies to mates. So, despite the forlorn title, what we actually get from Iceland’s latest export is an Eels-esque tune that wavers between melancholy and happiness.  It’s highly palatable, whimsical, and thankfully not nauseating so - but ultimately, when finished it’s all instantly forgettable. So despite the early aesthetic promise, this is one destined to collect dust at the back of the record collection.

An over-zealous hack, cited in the press release accompanying Days of Worth’s ‘Take Me Through’, believes the band evoke “the epic scale of Jane’s Addiction” and have “the subtle political allegorising of the Manic(s)… or Radiohead”. Either (a) he was listening to the wrong CD, or (b) he was trying to impress readers by name-checking as many bands as possible. Because Gigwise honestly can’t see where he’s coming from. For while we can’t fault the band’s tunefulness, naïve enthusiasm and obvious exasperation with the world on the track, they do absolutely nothing to distance themselves from, or add anything new to, the already overcrowded angst-ridden rock scene. Average.

‘Trippin’ is lightweight, danceable indie stuff from a young trio of Preston lads The KBC. On the lead track, the production is flimsy and James Mullholland’s vocals are too squeaky clean and fragile to make a convincing front man for our liking, but at least they do concoct a pretty decent tune, even if it does owe a lot to The Music. On the flip side, the synthesiser-based ‘Days of Illusion’ and the sprightly ‘Best In The Business’ marginally hint at better things from the band. So, some advice: book yourselves in for a session at a decent recording studios and Mr Mullholland smoke forty strong fags a day to hoarsen that voice - then come back to us.

Arriving aboard a crest of hype from some quarters are “UK Rock’s brightest hopes” Nine Black Alps. Surely, there’s something to get excited about here – they got snapped up by Island and got flown over to LA to record their debut album, so obviously the powers-that-be think the band are a sound investment. Well, thanks to the explosive, scrawling guitars and very familiar chorus, ‘Shot Down’ is actually a pretty fiery effort that will no doubt fuel mosh-pits throughout the nation. But ultimately, it’s what should be called ‘lobotomy music’ – i.e. you don’t have to use your brain to enjoy it.

Despite the very ominous sounding title of this download only EP, The Modern’s ‘Eastern Bloc’ is at times a jaunty little slice of eighties inspired synth--pop. The impossibly catchy lead track ‘Suburban Culture’ verges on being laughable at times (the tacky male vocals) and brilliant at others (the “boy meets a girl and the girl runs away” chorus), yet ultimately leaves you positively glowing after a listen. Elsewhere, the sparse ‘Model 426’ builds on atmospherics and Bernard Sumner-type vocals, but is unfortunately devoid of the catchiness of the opener. On the whole it looks as though Fischerspooner have got some stiff competition in the retro electro-pop arena.

Heartfelt, yearning and emotional, but extremely slow and plodding, erm…that just about sums up Clayhill’s ‘Moon I Hide’. Anyone with a penchant for acoustic-driven poignant songs, then this will definitely wet your whistle. But for the rest of us, while we can admire the band’s craftsmanship and Gavin Clark’s velvety voice, it may just leave you wanting to take a quick nap. Worse is to come with the b-side when the band commit a cardinal in covering The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’, which in all honesty isn’t even a patch on the heart-rending original.

Brendan Benson is a man with a deep-rooted obsession for cats. His ginger moggy has appeared on the sleeve on both of his albums, and, guess what, ‘Sam’ is on the cover for ‘Spit It Out’. Quite why he chooses to detract attention away from his sometimes-great music with pictures of his favourite pussy is quite beyond us. I mean, look at the amount of cat-related space that has been wasted in this review, when we could have been praising his quirky, lo-fi song writing charm on the endearing title track. Oh, the b-side ‘Left and Right’ is probably the best song about toast and marmalade you’ve ever heard.

Oozing with exuberant vocals and lashes of pop attitude, ‘I Don’t Want To Know (If You Don’t To Know)’ is the impossibly beguiling new track from The Donnas. The second single to be taken from their sixth album ‘Gold Medal’, it’s certainly an invigorating listen. While they’re far from cracking into new realms with such tracks, after a decade together The Donnas have undeniably got the infectious 3-minute edgy pop tune down o an art form. Sassy, sultry charm at it’s best, then.

Loose Cannon’s ‘Cruising On The 86’ is about the bus route that singer Noel Vazquez travels on every day. Aye, they can be a right pain in the arse those buses; you wait half an hour for one then three turn up at once. And don’t even get us started on the black fumes they excrete out the back of them! No wonder the Manchester lads were forced to write a song about the monotony of such tribulations - and they sure as hell sound pissed off about it all. Joking aside, it’s quite a wiry, sprawling number that optimistically proclaims that there are parties to enjoy out there away from the humdrums of travelling. Deep stuff, indeed.

Turkey Of The Week ! : Is it just us or is Rufus Wainwright sounding more and more like Thom Yorke with every minute that passes? Matthew Bellamy eat your tortured heart out, the top impersonator is back. In the blurb that comes with ‘The One You Love’, Keane’s Tom Chaplin even has the audacity to say Wainwright’s album is up there with 'OK Computer' – how wrong you are, you spherical faced troll! True, listening to this single, Wainwright has undoubtedly a mesmerising vocal capacity, yet the tune, pretty decent enough as it is, is not worthy of such exultation. You could argue, through merely resembling one of the greats of modern music, Wainwright is not much more than a glorified parrot. Squawk!

All singles featured are released 07/03/05