Misogynists, Devils and Ambassadors - It's Singled Out!

It’s not often that a single renders you speechless and laughing your tits off simultaneously. San Diego’s Louis XIV’s incredibly lo-fi, fuzzy and crude ‘Illegal Tender EP’ does all this and more. Through his petulant delivery frontman Jason Hill’s vocals perfectly embody a ‘don’t give a ****’ attitude - but more to the point, the band themselves don’t give a **** about anything. Opener ‘Louis XIV’ is a hilarious attack on self-infatuation, with Hill putting the subject down by blurting “Who’s Your Daddy?” And feminists beware, on ‘Finding Out True Love Is Blind’, Hall matter-of-factly sees love on an animalistic level, declaring “It’s the girl with the tight pants I really want to shake up.” Elsewhere on ‘Paper Doll’, Hall plainly accepts his debased thoughts: “I know I ain’t correct, but politics are so much better when there’s sex”.  While we can’t support such remarks for fear of castration, Gigwise can’t help but admire Louis XIV’s flawed and unflinching honesty.

There’s a certain air of familiarity about The Bees’ ‘Chicken Payback’. Could it be that it merely sounds like a tired replica of a jangly merseybeat number from the early sixties? Actually, aside from its undeniably derivative quality, you’ll recognise it from an advert on the old idiot box. And yes, you can see what the advertisers saw in it - it’s an unfeasibly upbeat, quirky and slightly irksome piece of guitar pop that whether you like it or not, creeps into your psyche and refuses to leave. True, it’s affable enough on its first couple of listens and, hey, may even bring a smile to your stolid chops, but give it a few more spins and it swiftly becomes excruciatingly annoying. Very limited shelf life, then.

Manchester’s latest stunning export Narcissus serve up a delectable dose of moody synth-driven pop with their debut release ‘The Window EP’. And it’s in the ethereal title track that the magic lies. Ambient electronica beats give way to breathless and decidedly effeminate vocals, before a sheer serotonin gush of a chorus leaves you all fuzzy in the head. It really is quite stirring stuff. Elsewhere, the Dark Matter mix of the same track is a more murky tech-driven interpretation packed with substance. While the cacophony of guitars and electro beats that is ‘Burning Candles’ and the chilled but slightly meandering ‘The Truth Hurts’ fail to repeat the hypnotic charm of the opener, they don’t detract away from the point that Narcissus are ones to watch.

Feeder’s abominably droning previous release ‘Tumble and Fall’ made this reviewer positively queasy. Fortunately, ‘Feeling A Moment’ is much better - but then again three minutes of fart noises probably would have surpassed it spectacularly. Occupying a space somewhere between a U2 power ballad and any given track from the indie warblers currently besieging the charts, Grant Nicholas hoarsely executes a reasonably rousing offering. Understandably introspective considering the band’s tragic circumstances of recent years, we can’t help but feeling that this and other recent Feeder tracks would have extra impact if they had a more stripped down and honest sound. Really such is the sickly smooth production, that Nicholas’ poignant emotions are lost somewhere wrapped in cotton wool.

Chris Helme, you remember him, the unsoiled busker who got lucky fronting The Seahorses. Now his balls have finally dropped and he’s back with his new outfit The Yards - and Christ, divorced from the egocentric musicianship of John Squire he’s even gone political on our ass! An attack on George Bush, ‘The Devil Is Alive And Well In DC’ is an invigorating 2-minute rush of rock and roll dynamism. True, Helme has been taking lessons off Mick Jagger and other such hollerers from the sixties, but hell he manages to pull it off with plenty of aplomb. On top of this, it’s refreshingly discordant with an obligatory Strokes infused twist. It seems the boy has done good.

A celebration and homage to friendship with Dominic Masters’ all-pervading nonchalant whine narrating things, ‘William’ is unquestionably the poppiest moment from The Others’ outstanding debut album. Centring on the infectious chant “ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-Bow!”, it’s clearly not as lyrically direct as other tracks, but it hits home nonetheless. Energetic and fresh, capturing the raw vigour of The Buzzcocks and XTC, ‘William’ really is pure pop ecstasy – despite some pretty dodgy lines, for example “Ginger hair broke all my rules”. Ahem. Anyway, if there’s any justice, this single should get The Others the throng of exposure they so deserve.

If anyone’s has been smoking far too much wacky baccie and over-indulging in ‘Dark Side Of the Moon’-era Pink Floyd, then it’s these boys Pure Reason Revolution. ****, it’s like punk never happened, Sid Vicious is probably rolling in his grave as we speak, for with ‘The Bright Ambassadors Of Morning’ PRR give us a 12 minute plus prog-rock behemoth with a side serving of electronica thrown in. Within the epic track not much escapes their musical cannon – there’s sprinklings of early Genesis keys, Led Zep riffs, and Pink Floyd ambience in there. Of course, such is the sprawling scope, at times the track dangerously veers towards being meandering for comfort. Pretentious: Oui. Interesting: Definitely.

Within the brilliant ‘Lump In My Throat’, The Departure perfectly encapsulate a whole amalgamation of your favourite eighties alternative bands – there’s elements of The Cure, New Order, …Bunnymen and even The The in there. Yet, rather than being just the sum of their influences, they have their own unique and vivacious edge. Less immediate than ‘Be My Enemy’, but ultimately just as ace, David Jones’ (isn’t that David Bowie’s real name?) distinctive and mysterious vocals are in their element on this assured single. Better still, they even exhibit a flair for writing potent metaphors with the chorus “I’ve got a bag with no airholes, I’ve got a chair with no seat.” Clever lads.

Just like Hard-Fi before them, Nou have been receiving some hardcore plugging from Radio One’s Colin and Edith. Unfortunately, from listening to ‘Coca Butter’ Gigwise can’t quite see what all the kerfuffle’s about. A deep-voiced Barry White sound-alike kicks things off, before a funky female vocal and a catchy tune come in, only to be ruined by an inanely repetitive and wholly unnecessary chorus shouting the song’s name. So despite a positive start, things get exasperating and only really ever threaten to get going. Clearly influenced by The Roots’ dextrous style, Nou are going to have to work pretty damn hard to emulate their contemporaries.

Turkey Of The Week: In their palpable quest to get noticed, Manchester threesome Slims couldn’t be any further from realising their ambitions. With this ‘Utunc’, their rock sound is so unimaginative, derivative and polished that any ungrounded allusions to this band being cutting-edge are rendered completely blunt. Undeniably, they’re pretty accomplished musicians and all that, but with a tiredly imitative Seattle influenced sound, we’ve all heard it hundreds of times before. Clutching at straws they even have some controversial lyrics: “Just another **** up and I’ll stick the knife in.” Angry you may well be, but we suggest finding some direction first.

All featured singles released on April 4.