Single reviews

Zapped By A Million Volts

What�s The Miles Per Gallon, Alan?

Grace

Someone�s been listening to a little too much Ian Dury & The Blockheads, I think. True, this single has an infectious urgency about it that still survives despite the unwieldy title, but unless we�re turning the clock back twenty years it�s hard to see �What�s The Miles Per Gallon, Alan?� succeeding in the modern world. Besides, they really can�t fit that title into the chorus, and the whole effort feels needlessly rushed and cramped for style. If you�re missing Ian Dury you�ll probably love it, though.

Dan Coxon

Little Barrie

Pin That Badge

Genuine

Little Barrie return (did anyone notice they’d been away?) with an unashamedly retro EP that claims to have �funk� and �soul� but in reality has as much bite as a toothless chihuahua. This sounds like it took about five minutes to write, and it takes about five seconds to forget it completely. The B-side, ‘Green-Eyed Fool’ takes a swipe at people who �haven’t had the balls to do it for themselves�, which seems a little rich, coming from Morrissey’s jobbing guitarist.

Kate Connolly

The Rapture

W.A.Y.U.H People Don�t Dance No More

Mercury

I went to review this single then realised I�d put Talking Heads Remain in the Light on instead. Never mind they�re just the same so I�ll get away with it. Spiky, jerky guitar, clanging cowbells, electronic blips and beeps, rhythmic beats and squealing vocals. This is great if not at all original and more than a nod to the aforementioned art school legends. Complete with a Tom Tom Club ending as well…cheeky boys. �People don�t dance no more/They just stand like this/They cross their arms and stare you down/They drink moan and piss.�

Alan Souter

Edward Molby

Narwhal

Doghouse

Some bands end up with their vocalist because he owns a car and not because he has an especially nice voice. I’m assuming Edward Molby are such an act. A quartet from somewhere in Yorkshire who, hilariously I can assure you, feature no-one of the name Edward Molby play guitar heavy pop fronted by a singer who whines when the music is meant to be melodic and has possibly the most pathetic scream I’ve ever heard when things get ‘heavy’. I couldn’t stand to listen beyond the entirely rubbish opening track so have no idea if things improve.

Alex Botten

The Automatic

Raoul

B-Unique

The Automatic enter 2007 with an albatross around their necks, their phenomenally successful single �Monster� and a set-trashing Breakfast TV appearance that went on YouTube almost immediately. This re-issue is not perhaps as catchy as Monster, unlikely to change the world, but it�s fun. And that�ll do for now. What is not explained is who Raoul is�

Ed Jupp

Sean Lennon

Dead Meat

Parlophone

Lennon Jnr could be forgiven for taking the fast track route to fame. After all, what�s the point of trying to emulate your father�s career when he has secured his place as one the greatest of all time? Surely a lost cause?

Not for this single-minded gentleman. Whilst there are elements of dad�s work spliced into this single acutely, individuality is almost certainly the defining word for this, and indeed all, of Sean Lennon�s work. Rather than be cast under a shadow of a parent�s previous success, �Dead Meat� sounds fresh, unique, and indicative of his tribulations to find perfection in the eight-year sabbatical since his last effort. Emulation this ain�t; this stands on its own two feet as a beautifully arranged, gloriously implicit record. He may be as much the spokesperson for the underground as his father was for the mainstream. Not really what you would expect from a Lennon record, and, probably, all the better for it.

Paul MacDonald

Revl9n

Walking Machine

Because

The Swedish have the inimitable knack for delivering a perfect piece of pop when it�s needed most. Even in this period of nationwide, post-festive season lethargy; Revl9n (pronounced as �Revlon Nine�) manage to make a song about a Walking Machine seem appealing. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but its sultry vocals and sugary synths make a bouncy, electro noise that could be a flatpack remedy to a Data Panik shaped hole in the world, if there is such a thing. Altogether it�s inoffensive and pretty pop.

Laura Doherty

George Dyer

Five Out Of Five

Just who is George Dyer? Tap his name into Wikipedia and you�ll come up with an 18th century English classicist. Google him and you�ll find a world-renowned tenor and, er, Francis Bacon�s gay lover. Somehow I doubt that either were involved with this lo-fi (read: cheaply produced) five-track release. Working his/their way through a sackful of plod-rock tunes and horribly nasal vocals, he/they have made it all the worse by choosing such an arrogant title for what must surely be a debut release. Five out of five? Not quite�

Dan Coxon

Joe Matson

DTA

Self released

Trip-hop has always been a mystifying genre. Too banal to be either trippy or hoppy, its protagonists sailed lethargically through the scene before shipping off to new shores once they realised no-one actually cared. So, with this in mind, the proposition of self-confessed trip-hopper Joe Matson�s new single fails to fill the heart with hope. And from the first silky smooth down-tempo beat its clear �DTA� won�t breathe a fresh lease of life into a dying scene. Inoffensively bland, it�s a late night smoking track for those unable to solve anything more taxing than what makes the best roach material. Trip-hop: seriously, who needs it?

Billy Hamilton