MUSIG RECORD REVIEWS [—
evidence ot their two tracks, Dream Disciples, who once seemed to be
Grail! "Wm “"595 VAmous 3 breaking out of the strait-jacket of What the 5930"“ "3°" 0" , , r Goth appear to have jumped back in. a 0" sin!“ ‘3 “"‘d- "'° WWW“ 93 (F'Shvl ; And with the rather tired Highlander- Bilase.’ pm . A" "mnding “0"”! “5"! “3‘9"” 3 rock of Avalon’s ‘Travelleis Tales’ What is figgy pudding you think of his taste in music. I’ve ‘ ’
‘Outpatients’ starts to sound a bit like 3 a rock graveyard.
It’s hard to assess the allegedly diverse Guaranteed Pure on the basis
anyway? Gooey fesliv" experienced his hospitality at Funny
muck that makes the . . normally sane temporarily Fan“ smd'os “we no": and
Christms crackers, maps concluded that there are worse people
what presumably St to be stuck with in a converted farm : 0, their “assisting” joke,
Etienne‘s ‘l Was Born On building in the wilds with no readily swing/Muss numbe, so that leaves us Christmas Day‘ available escape route. I’ve also heard , with two sum” Joyr’idew tracks two (“eivci‘w is "mm ‘0 be People "ho "a" “300"” "m9 ? curios that failed to make it ontii "0m (*6 ‘00 Clever by enthuse about an atmosphere where
,, ., _ , , Fish’s covers album ‘Son 5 From The ' "3”)- O‘?‘ a “F”. musicians can have a relaxed, M- i . .1 g , ’ perpetuating, sclt- d . , . , _ "[0! (Yes 8 ime And A Word and ! , fulfilling synthesiser beat 9” “We "met 13mm” 3"" "NW The Who’s ‘The Seeker’) and an . . that even hapless 'deas- acoustic take of Fish’s own ‘Out Of My 1
? European houscmcistcrs this is “‘3 “I” i" a 553"” 0' discs Life’. Most intriguing, though, is One : would be loath to inflict featuring unsrgned artists who have Emmalis runs Love’, a slinky dance 3 ' upon English nedheads recorded there, and as you might have "ask as shammhy as sunning use i . down Tcncrifc ways Sarah guessed from the above grovelling it’s as“ ‘ Cracknell (‘dolly bird') 3 “moms mixed bag. on the ’ aTOIIOd. (Al il’ Mabbott) meal“ D'SCIP'”
and Tim Burgess (‘dolly bloke‘) slug it out to see who can sound most plastic. At least Cocteau Twins have the good grace to stick to the covers option. ‘Frosty The Snowman’l‘Winter Wonderland‘ (Fontana) are both Spector-esque visions ofa glass-encased festive scene — precious. delicate. and fairy-tale
_ maudlin simplicity of ‘Broke Away’.
Things bottomed out with ‘High On The WET WET WET llappy Side’, the Wets snatched from
_ . - disaster by - again - a killer ballad in End Of Part One Their Greatest Hits me shape of Goodnight Gm,- But along the way something went missing. The Wets tried to reinvent themselves as ‘serious artists’, crossover talents of the stature of George Michael and Simply Red, forswearing their teeny pop natural
i | l I (Precious)
% It’s the same bluff optimism that made i their early singles so memorable that ultimately makes this greatest hits
compilation such a sad affair. ‘End Of Part One’? Where once that optimism
hewilching. ; was chirpin teenage and innocently . ‘Bah. humbug.‘ belch ; endearing, now it comes over like the ca"'“9' It takes "me "'3" Ac Acoustics. I 5 pumngs of vainglmious blowham. overwrought, over-convoluted pap to
‘Sweatlodge'l‘MV' (Elemental). the Glaswegians' debut. is scabrous and shredded (side one). strung-out and out-to-lunch (side two). Where previously they slouched and shuffled. now AC Acoustics are The Fall on a steroids/peyote cocktail. Baby Chaos are equally stirring with the spunky
. . do that Quite simply, as Wet Wet Wet have ' . , , "M m find .feal soul. a" they.” On the next srngle, Gold, Gold Heart,
done is rose the lot. even the combined talents of llile . Early on, with ‘lgopped In Souled Out’, “"99”: “mm and 30b Clearmpuntain
the Clydebankies brimmed with pop 3'9 powe'less ‘0 “Wage anything
nous, pmdusing singles mat were from a patently desperate song. And
. - - this is meant to be the start of ‘Part harmless, unpretentious and uplifting, , , emmessly “muting a moment Two ? Sadly, there s as much chance
. . f Wet Wet Wet getting real as there is Thin s dipped with the singles from o . . . } ‘llolti’ing Back The River’, save for the : the" gem“ 50"" (c'a'g mica")
l i (had to be. didn‘t it?) i ‘Sperm‘ (east/west). Your l 2 dagqolcscwi'gMmeJoy iBUBROUGHS/HIPHOPBISY , ill "‘18 Ol’( 0n 8 l lOUS . nothings. or they“ go 3” Spare Ass Annie And Other Tales (4th E soft and sticky in the i 8‘ BmadWaV) ' melting glow of 18 Burroughs grins and sins about God, Wheeler‘s ‘Suncrush' drugs and assholes. Disposable Heroes (August/Creation). Their play ‘Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy’ “To”? “"2” 599-“ "‘6 and ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’. eliortling Wheelies haul Last orders at the sanity samon themselves out of the 9 Glasgow/Creation sonic a"¥°"°' . . sludge by [he expedient Disposable Heroes Of iliphoprisy act use or a gripper). pedal as a catalyst to allow William S. steel and evocatively Burroughs’ vivid tale-telling to summery vocals from the become virtual reality. Their music mysterious ldha. reflects the mood of the enchanter: A Shpr} motorway ride T the clinical ‘Or. Benway Operates’ on '3‘“ Edmburgh" "ecu" hard beats; the memory of ‘The Last
3 surge on with ‘Lost‘. the frantic title track on their reissued debut EP
Words Of Dutch Schultz’ resurrects , 1940s film scores, while Pathe ilews
(Incredible Shrinking = reels off ironically in ‘Words Of Advice Records). The real corker. ' H" Young P399”,-
though. is ‘Undertow‘. a . Two great minds, Michael Franti and garage-rock ballad of Burroughs, fuse brilliant word
dissolutc melancholy. as i violence. Prime mood is ‘The Junky’s Pal?"‘9‘d,by Buff“? T""‘ Ghristmas’. Hark! The ilerald Angels gglczi’fl‘fchg‘: 'in I , sing, and you can almost smell the
- - y g y' - (cold) turkey. Any Whiff of optimism is
The D Ians f)“ ..,...g,.,,, 0,323,: 32;.“ dashed in the futility of the search for
(‘Godlike'. ‘Planet Love‘. ‘ll’; the beats stiffen as the world ‘Mary Quant In Blue' ) — becomes suburban, dank and DOSE-buggy 60$ ultra-pop i forbidding. It’s a stunning monologue - With ‘Grudgc' (Beggars that reads a damn sight more : lgqgirltm)~uil’5" j interesting than the Queen’s Christmas : Those w,‘,uk‘,_bs SCu”; 1 Speech. Peace my asshole, would cry guitars sound like a r Burroughs, give me another fix. swarm of miffed bees. " Gynlcism becomes the man. (Philip ' Buzz on: i Dorward) ;
30 The List 3- l6 December I993