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BY MARTIN SIRL
His Lyrics Are Disastrous by
Jakobinarina
If Friedrich Nietzsche was right when he said that madness is rare in
individuals , but usually the rule in groups then Icelanders Jakobinarina are
surely one group with barminess by the boatload. This is a punk-rock song of
which any seventies safety-pinners would have been proud. It’s short, manic and
has that certain air of strangeness that one only gets from artists brought up
in places that are way too cold and a little too remote for their own good. I
await the forthcoming The First Crusade album with enormous interest, but also
with some trepidation.
Two Left Feet 07 by The Holloways
Mmm. Nice. Providing us with a little touch of summer as the nights draw in, The
Holloways return with another ‘boy gets drunk and meets girl on the dance floor
but can’t quite remember her name’ tale. Charming in an Arctic Monkeys kind of
way Two Left Feet comes complete with jaunty guitars, bluegrass fiddles and a
chorus just made to sing along to as singer Alfie Jackson suggests “I can’t
really dance but baby won’t you dance with me”. You can’t fault a man for trying
and the fact that most of us guys have been there too at some time in our lives
just makes this that little bit more memorable.
She Called Up by Crowded House
Through floods, famine and terrorism Crowded House just seem to keep coming back
and though you really feel you ought not to like them somehow you just can’t
help it. She Called Up is another peach of a song, with the old formula of
Beatle-esque vocals, perfect harmonies and immaculate production once again
hitting the bulls eye fair and square. There are Tchad Blake and Steve
Lillywhite mixes here, the latter being the better, but frankly when the tunes
are this good a deaf monkey could produce. Two hearings of this and you’ll be
singing it in your head for weeks, so don’t say I didn’t warn you..
Islands by The Favours
A tight polished sound offers clear evidence that Favours have been around for a
few years now and Islands will please existing fans and surely gain many new
ones. This is catchy, lyrically angst-ridden and in its own quiet way very
impressive, with Sara Sanchez’s classy vocals topping off a solid guitar laden
backing to create one cool pop song. It’s easy to see why The Favours are
rapidly becoming darlings of the music press and you can expect this to grab
airplay aplenty. Look out for it in the download charts this very week.
No Way Out by The Bad Robots
Slickly performed blend of punk and ska from Camden-based 4-piece with a dodgy
name and a lead singer who sports a beard worthy of a Deliverance extra and the
voice of a young Robert Smith. Angled guitar chords and breakneck bass lines
suggest that The Jam are a major influence here which, sadly, is where the
problem lies. It’s pleasant but pleasant in a bad way, with too much here
reminding you of something you’ve heard somewhere before. The best tracks on
this 5-song release are Disarmingly Charming, which even has a title that Weller
would have been proud of, and Go, which is just quirky enough to remind one of
Devo’s latter-day output, or is it just me? The remaining tracks here are
quickly forgotten.
What’s A Girl To Do? by Bat For Lashes
A truly intriguing release from Brighton’s Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes.
There are elements of Goldfrapp, Bollywood and The Shangri-las all jostling for
position here, with this bright young lady clearly influenced by everything from
sixties pop to modern day techno. But what really makes this work are Khan’s
vocals which are simultaneously chilling yet charming. Add a near faultless
production into the equation and there is plenty here to make one suspect that
the highly tipped Miss Khan might soon be doing for the music business what her
uncle did for squash.
Hold On by Razorlight
Few would dispute the fact that, over the last couple of years, Razorlight have
found a knack of creating something which is as near to perfect pop as anything
else around today. So we can only hope that Johnny and the boys don’t begin to
rest on their laurels because this release has an ominous air of water treading
about it. Boppy and likeable it may be, but in truth this also steers perilously
near to muzak territory. Without that certain something that made America so
good, Hold On is really just the musical equivalent of a paper towel; it
arrives, does its job, and then is quickly gone and forgotten.
Don’t Stop Now by Crowded House
There’s something about Crowded House that you just can’t help but like. MOR
mainstays they may be, but the songs are rarely anything other than crisp,
classy and flawless. This one does take a few plays to really click, but pretty
soon it’s as though they never went away. Lyrically clever and with a chorus to
die for this could have come from any Crowded House album as the men from down
under have never tampered too much with a winning formula. And the presence of
Johnny Marr on guitar and Steve Lillywhite on production duties merely add
additional assurances of success, if they were needed.
This Is An Advertisement by Jakobinarina
Weird anti-establishment ranting from teenage Icelandic punks. Lots of shouting,
orange box drumming and a wall of distorted buzz saw guitar makes for a general
cacophony of sound which is irreverent, shambolic and spanking good
entertainment. Jakobinarina won’t make records like this when they’re all grown
up so enjoy them now before they realise there’s more to life than making noise
and having fun.
Picture Of You by Mr Hudson
The former Oxford graduate returns with pleasant but unremarkable love song in
the style of Sting and Ben Folds. The piano is sweet and Hudson’s voice is once
again right on the mark, but ultimately the song is just too weak, sounding like
not much more than a B-side or album bonus track. Mr Hudson and the Library
performed six times at this year’s Glastonbury suggesting that staying power
isn’t a problem, but Hudson’s songs will need a lot more staying power than this
if his band are serious about gaining any real, lasting success.
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