Singles of the Week #2

KOOKS 'Sway' (Virgin)

Maroon 5-reminiscent, Autumnal mid-tempo offering from Razor-lite stage school chancers. 'Sway', whilst less grating than previous singles is nonetheless lightweight as ever, though with an unprecedented grunge undertone. Nowhere near as bad as 'Shine On', or any of the singles from their department-store soundtracking debut album, each of which were hook-laden in the worst possible sense. Their best single, but isn't the Britpop revival way into 1998 now?

Orson would be proud of this!

6/10


BLOC PARTY 'Talons' (Witchita / V2)

Not these again! 'Talons' is a brand new track, which will feature on the physical edition of the recent inconsistent 'Intimacy' album. Featuring excellent drumming once again from Matt Tong, 'Talons' employs rich production, with minimal keyboard motifs and drum loops married to cinematic guitars, but unfortunately has 'album track' written all over it, as the melody department fails to engage. A Paul Epworth production, though the epic feel would hint at Jacknife Lee's work, particularly with Editors. A fairly standard arrangement, as each section unfolds as you might expect. Yet again incomparable with the early singles, but implemented with more dignity than the last two.

7/10


FLEET FOXES 'He Doesn't Know Why' (Bella Union)

Glowing, almost festive, enchanting single culled from the self-titled debut. A Beach Boys-esque melody gets top marks for infectiousness, executed in the manner of an alternative hymn. Not ground-breaking at all, but it's timelessness earns plaudits, if it does end somewhat prematurely. Falls short of 'White Winter Hymnal' standards, but reassuring to hear justified critical acclaim.

8/10


THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS 'My Mistakes Were Made For You' (Domino)

Unnerving third single from the precocious duo, lacking the instancy required for single status, though wouldn't sound out of place on a 60's espionage thriller. Opens perhaps ironically with the line 'About as subtle as an earthquake', as it teeters on the edge of a dramatic chorus that never appears. Nonetheless, a solid track from an ambitious if patchy Scott Walker and Love-indebted project.

7/10


NOAH AND THE WHALE 'Shape Of My Heart' (Mercury)

Follow-up to summer breakthrough hit 'Five Years Time', 'Shape Of My Heart' trundles along in a half-hearted indie-pop fashion, whilst it's arrangement smacks of a poppy Beirut, lyrically pondering the topic of heartache via smug vocalist Charlie Fink who annoys rather than convinces, approaching the issue with a limp tweeness where bitterness would work more effectively. Still, childlike enough for Los Campesinos fans and conservative enough for the Radio 1 playlist.

5/10


TV ON THE RADIO 'Golden Age' (4AD)

Typically inventive lead single from new LP 'Dear Science', starting off with a Prince-friendly bassline and shimmering electronic percussion, before a weighty synth lead makes it's presence-felt. Foals may have scrapped David Sitek's work on their debut, but it's gratifying nonetheless to see TOTR's off-the-wall experimentalism seep into the palette of the typically white, asexual UK guitar scene, particularly in the supposed Nu-Rave scene - Late of the Pier being an obvious example. 'Golden Age' is an accessible yet innovative track from an album full of them.

9/10

Coming soon...

Singles of the week #2

Including Fleet Foxes, Bloc Party, The Kooks, The Last Shadow Puppets and Noah and the Whale.

Should be fun!

Lichy's Singles of the Week!

KAISER CHIEFS - 'Never Miss A Beat' (B-Unique)

'I Predict A Riot'. 'Oh My God'. 'Everday I Love You Less and Less'. 'Ruby'. 'Everything Is Average Nowadays'. 'The Angry Mob'. A veritable roll call of shite. 'Modern Way' was rather charming, in it's own way. Now, picture if you will, nepotist brasshead Mark Ronson added to proceedings. They'll sound more like a 'bad Blur' (© L. Gallagher) than ever.

Except once the seratonin-producing chorus hits, not long after one of the best call-and-response vocals ever ('What do you want for tea? I want crisps'), past sins are almost completely forgiven, and Ronson's trumpets are thankfully absent. Judging by this single, the Kaisers have took criticism on the chin and opted for subtle and detached humour rather than smug lowest-common-demonator wit so commonplace on weak yet enduringly popular tracks such as the consistently infuriating 'I Predict A Riot' and Stephen Street's emptiest production ever, 'Ruby'.

There is an additional warmth to 'Never Miss A Beat' lacking in previous hits, which although performed in a similiar tongue-in-cheek manner seems less likely to annoy on subsequent listens. Previously, to my ears, the Kaiser Chiefs were a sub-Britpop revival combo running pararell only to Menswear in terms of non-credibility and longevity, whilst appearing to attract exactly the type of fanbase they attempted to ridicule during 'I Predict A Riot' and embracing this factor. In addition to this, both Ricky Wilson and songwriting drummer Nick Hodgson seemed borderline arrogant in interviews, in a manner befitting talents far worthier than their own.

Nonetheless, 'Never Miss A Beat' on it's own terms is a highly melodic and charismatic pop single which warrants repeated listening, and shouldn't cause too much concern when it is used as backing music to all sports coverage repeatedly over the next 3 months.

A single of the week award seems redundant, since these are in no way definitive with regards to this week's releases, but if there was an award for 'Pedestrian Landfill-Indie Band meets Silver-Spoon Brass-Happy Producer in Decent Record Shocker' this would probably stand in good stead.

(8/10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz40P1hFvWs


SNOW PATROL - 'Take Back The City' (Polydor)

So, as it's 2008, and these things tend to come round on a 2-yearly cycle, we are not only treated to a new Kaisers single (although admittedly the last album only came out last year, as did the last Bloc Party, and they've churned out another questionable collection already, in what is now known as 'Radiohead-fashion', leaking the album far ahead of physical release), but a new album by this decade's answer to Deacon Blue arrives, predictably leaving one ear as fast as it entered the other. Now that even Coldplay have upped the tempo of their single releases, thus avoiding further Embrace comparisions, it seems Snow Patrol must follow suit, and although 'Take Back The City' is admittedly more raucous than say, 'Run', or the cynical, contrived emotional void known as 'Chasing Cars', it fails to leave a dent on the long-term memory, and leaves one inquisitive over potential weakness of subsequent singles.

(5/10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmB2uvQc0O0


CSS - 'Move' (Sub Pop)

A characteristic 80s tinged effort, the latest effort from most people's favourite indie-disco Brazillians is built upon a chorus not unlike prime-time Madonna - the kind of hook Gwen Stefani would probably pay someone an obscene amount of money to compose. Now that commercial indie music is dying on it's arse in terms of mainstream success, it would be interesting to see how the firework bands of 2 years ago fare, once the crash-barrier of hype has vanished. Maybe we'll have to concentrate on the music other than the fact that the singer's dating a Klaxon.

'Move' is a euphoric, if uneventful pop song and is unlikely to prolong the career of a band so obviously based on fashion and image as much as creative potence, and in the manner of so many 2nd division alternative acts these days will probably reach #78 for one week on downloads only, as the only physical CD single in circulation dies a lonely death in a Wrexham stockroom.

(8/10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvUW-dkviak


JAMES YUILL - 'This Sweet Love' (Moshi Moshi)

In the vein of Maps-meets-Bright Eyes, a simple acoustic lament which gives way to a sweet synth-motif which sounds neither jarring nor contrived. A folktronica-infused epic which, both unintrusive and introspective, only requires a couple of airings to enter the consciousness on a long-term basis, bringing Four Tet and Nick Drake to mind in equal measure.

(7/10)

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GTUSO9T8


M.I.A. - 'Paper Planes' (XL)

A highlight of the quantum-leaping 'Kala' album of over a year ago. A huge hit in the US, 'Paper Planes' now receives a lap of honour in the UK, already becoming the genre-straddling Londoner's first UK Top 40 hit. Utilising the hook from The Clash's 'Straight To Hell' to cataclysmic effect, M.I.A. makes the sample her own in a track that has already faced a somewhat unneccesary hefty amount of censorship across the Atlantic. A harmonious merging of hip-hop, rock and electro, this mid-tempo epic could well become a signature track before her oft-threatened retirement.

(9/10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g


THE TING TINGS - 'Be The One' (Columbia)

Yet another single culled from the hugely successful 'We Started Nothing', recalling The Bangles and, maybe unintentionally, an Aldi-level Santogold, or maybe somewhat generously, The Primitives. It doesn't exhibit the tight funk element of previous chart-topper 'That's Not My Name', but then again employs more than two chords and doesn't make me want to divorce my own testicles by means of a pizza cutter. Not a bad week for dogshit bands.

(7/10)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5BybSb6W4g

And that's this week's (high-profile) singles!

Got to save some for next week!

Roots Manuva - 'Slime and Reason'

Roots Manuva's 2005 LP, 'Awfully Deep, was centred upon the concept of some asylum-orientated exile, turning it's back on the carefree playfulness of his previous 2 albums, and was an altogether more sober affair. Whilst a number of tracks maintained the eccentricity of tracks such as 'Dreamy Days' and 'Bashment Boogie', Rodney Smith returned to the fold troubled and uncertain, hinting lyrically that this was to be his final stand as a performer, disillusioned with the underachieving UK rap scene and the mentality of mainstream hip-hop, satirising hip-hop's thematic pre-occupations on tracks such as 'The Falling' ('Guns, bitches, hos, crack/ Death and disease and a baseball bat') with traditionally English world-weary sarcasm, documenting his fight against temptation and depravity, whilst coming to terms with first time fatherhood. Whilst the album was a more melodic and musically accessible affair than his previous work, critical acclaim once again eclipsed commercial success, despite the singles 'Collosal Insight', and 'Too Cold' denting the lower reaches of the UK Top 40. So, after a 3 and a half year break, Smith returns with 'Slime and Reason' and two low-profile dancehall-influenced, slightly throwaway singles, 'Buff Nuff' (produced, like 'Do Na Boddha Mi', and 'I'm A New Man' by Sheffield's Toddla T) and 'Again and Again', both playful in tone yet deceptive with regards to the overall feel of their parent album. Whilst much of the album is infused with eccentric and eclectic instant gratification, the second part of the collection retreats to common Smith themes of guilt, failure, introspection and sadness, particularly on the 6-minute 'The Show Must Go On', where he reflects on his career thus far and perceived lack of fulfillment and success. On 'Run Come Save Me', Roots pondered upon his strict Pentecostal upbringing, and his childhood rejection of faith on the track 'Sinny Sin Sins', and he revisits the concept of religion, inadequacy on 'It's Me Oh Lord' ('Reinventing the wheel was never part of my remit...Bought and sold how many years ago / and they're still trying to sell my arse'). In the same track he alludes to the identity of alienated UK youth with characteristic wisdom ('There's too many playing games with life / Discuss and discuss ways to guide those young 'uns / But they're built on a whole different fire'), whilst commenting on the 'copyright infringing/ publisher's cringing' nature of contemporary music consumption . Much of 'Slime and Reason' reads like a remorseful recap of his career thus far, fuelled with a troubled air of failure, drawing pararells between Roots Manuva the artist and Rodney Smith, the flawed family man, and there seems to be few differences between the two. Smith's UK alter-ego seems as fractured and humane as he is, and his self-effacing honesty makes the whole concept of an alter-ego little more than a stage name. Whilst Smith's contemporaries Dizzee Rascal and Wiley have scored their first real smash hits this summer, with a pair of rather hollow dancefloor-fillers, Smith has kept his integrity intact by not releasing the dumbed-down pop album he is more than capable of producing. In 'Do 4 Self', he talks of the importance of remaining 'true to self', adding in an admirably alienating fashion, that it is 'much too late for peace and togetherness'. If Roots was to make a last ditch-attempt at blanket airplay via a unifying everyman anthem, the Metronomy-produced 'Let The Sprit' would be a fine choice. Musically, the LP is largely a mid-tempo affair with a detached warmth reminiscent of early tracks like 'Movement', and 'Juggle Tings Proper', whilst returning to the 'Awfully Deep' template of 'Thinking' and the afore-mentioned 'Collosal Insight'. Fans of harder beats as exemplified on 'Run Come Save Me' will find gratification within 'C.R.U.F.F.' and 'I'm A New Man', which features an Atari-esque synth line, although as with much latter-day Roots Manuva a mellower feel is evident. 'Well Alright' is a defiant affair, targeting 'dumb-arse journos and their dumb arse questions', whilst closing track self-explanatory 'The Struggle' outlines his future hopes and fears, with trademark wit and poignancy. Therefore, whilst 'Awfully Deep' detailed the inner turbulence of a man, whether in reality or purely on record, firmly on the brink, 'Slime and Reason' successfully balances moments of uncertainty and defeat with contention and jubilance. Even on the bleaker moments of the album, Smith seems determined to pull himself through and not to give in to his demons, whereas on 'Awfully Deep', an air of finality seemed inescapable. Adding to that a wide array of previously uncharted musical territory, and, at 36, Roots' future as the leading light of intelligent UK urban music seems unquestionable.
'Let The Spirit' 'The Show Must Go On'