MUSIC RECORD REVIEWS
m l_ ‘ Say something nice? Jacqui Abbot can sing (she does so on five of the
"IE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH f twelve tracks) and Paul lleaton has a
:§'§§$?£S£Z$? Blue Is the colouring! gm) i voice to rival Mick llucknall’s in the contemplates the i Should you harbour a snotty urbanlte’s ! “mm b" ahodvhe 30'" deliaitmeht- 't platters. suspicion at suburb“ taste, 0, a only it weren’t harnessed to
display the animator, “mg, i appallineg portentous balladry (‘little
Moth o.o. could be Man disregard for a band who long ago ran mm”)! "a" lm'tihfled MP (‘the
Or Astro Man? recorded out of wall space upon which to hang g 30"“ 0t "Nth Ame't‘ia’) 0' ah .
in a shoe box under a their platinum discs, you won’t exacin l excruciating Tom Waits parody (’Liars’ bunk bed in a cabin .on the be salivating at the "aspect 0' The i Bar’). All this, though, is as nothing, lower Chick of a rusting Beautitui South's mu. m you may, i ll0Tlllllo, next to ‘Artificlal Flowers’, at ocean "W- The T'me however, suite, pmnoia 0t Invasion g ludicrous blubber-fest that would
E?n’§‘:éépég£ggg?’3a§‘gi 0f ripe and, Snatch“; momma” i cause the Brotherhood Of Man to flee.
45' either way someone.s when you '33". one in seven : Blue ’8 "'8 00,0”, a home in a mighty hum, _ Juan households own a copy at 11.9 South’s ! somewhere between Abba s Greatest Martin on roller skates, if greatest hits compilation Carry an Up ' “"3 amt "'9 comtttitmehts 0" you will. Commendably The charts, Fear the pod people, countless self-erected shelves. Truly oddball. "tends. ; music to o" for. (Rodger Evans) Debut singles a plenty this fortnight. Strawberry are Tom Waits fans from
biggest shock of all is hearing them ' make a stab at South African township
Falkirk whos* ravitation
to the 'Cemrggf it my BMX BANDITS jive, ‘Before The Blue Moon’, like a sounds like the Levellers Theme pa”, (emation) band that was signed to Cooking Vinyl performing ‘The you thought you knew the BMX rather than Creation. In other places,
Hucklebuck’ on Pebble Mill A! One. East Kilbride foursome ood’s Boyfriend are precocious enough to make Gaz Supergrass look like Albert Steptoe (now that you mention it . . .). Their Oprah- baiting 'WPC‘ (Flux Records) is a punk pop affair with plenty of biff and bang but somehow lacking on the pow front. Stylophone tread delicately in the Cuban heeled footsteps of previous Glasgow proponents of the Byrdsian janglc. ’On My
Bandits? Twee little bunch who sing it'5 a “353 liiiiihg i900”, ouglas
love songs to their teddy bears? Well, coming 0" "he the man Who taught think again. They’ve grown up into Teenage Fahc'Uh eVe'VthihQ they Rho" great big growlers or boys, Why, (which isn’t a million miles from the Buglas himself is sounding at least truth) and Stilittihg as mitt"! 35 0i“! sixteen these days. And even if they he can 0" the atmOSt 508” ‘01" .Tlme sometimes play like a stiff breeze “33 Come’- We". Whatever else It might blow them away, they’ve never "light he. no "300” IhVOtVIhQ
sounded more flexible. From ouglas legendait Ut Piofhicei. scenestei and crooning to a nylon-strung acoustic a'I'touhd tfeak K'hi Fhifltet '5 going to guitar accompaniment to fronting the be d“"- This certalnly Isn’t. and It reincarnation of the flew York nails to boasts? Sonia lather tine tunes'too- infusing Beach Boys grooves with Mathiitl ain’t a" had- (Alastair nuclear dread, it’s all here. The .htahhott)
beverages) but these are mostly i g . undersmted to the point of
Own' (Phonostyle , st . . . . . . .. ultification. The exception is
Records) is one of those ' - - i -
records that's all treble, no ‘Famng And landmg wmc"
, I approaches the sublime. omesthues(ohemikal Underground) : But The oelgados are at their best
bass no matter how much you fiddle with your
stereo. Nobody leaves Remember the lm Bru billboard ad of L when they’re doing mad-dog melodic until I find out who stole recent years? Kids ‘rampaging’ on the ! mayhem such as recent single ‘Under all Solonhonc’s baSS- 2 streets in go-karts with the caption Canvas Under Wraps’ or ‘Sucrose’ mac" 3‘1"" Singer can f ‘lm Bru made us rebel against our , when they sound most like their fellow P'Obab'y do that mummy ‘ parents’. That’s what this album is Glaswegians Urusei Yatsura and AC
Calvin and Hobbes face-
pu" as perfcmd by _ reminiscent of, in the nicest possible Acoustics. . everybodyS favourite sense. Four friends who want to make ; The main indicator of good things to rock n ion pixie Thom a cool-sounding cacophony, enough to i come is ‘Akumulator’. It’s no new Yorke. ‘1 Never Want' . piss off those with conservative ' thing to compare a band like The (Ferocious) boasts the tastes, but delivered without any Delgados to Pavement or The Flaming "1619010 angst 0f j delusions about rocking the lips, but here they really get the hang Eggéghjé‘gh‘f’e '"S‘am establishment to its foundations. of the dumb-ass power-pop singalong Wondersmff‘ and funny There are moments on Domesthues with a track which puts much of the faces courtes‘y of wee when The oelgados take a break from rest of their songwriting in the shade. Thom, , whizzing around, going hell-for-Ieather Perhaps at this stage a mini-album
Felix’s ’Don‘i You want ' to nowhere in particular, and pause for would have made more impact. (Fiona Me‘ (Deconstruction). a breath (or refreshing carbonated Shepherd)
club anthem for handbag circumnavigators. has
been remixed and w ma— plaintive whine is paradoxically just released to stimulate sales too distinctive, making ithard to hear of a certain fizzy drink, A COUNflNG GROWS the subtler, REM-tinged Side to the top ten hit for the third songs he sings. The band’s elaborate time? Mixed soft drink arrangements are initially impressive metaphors permitting. you Recovering The Satellites (Geffen) but the more you listen, the more you COP“? sat they were "’5 three years since San Franciscan just hear Duritz’s voice. Sadly it’s not a '“I'lkfngh‘t-E l, , rockers Counting Crows released their vocal style with hidden depths. centslgis 3:583?” “hilt August And Everything After. Recovering The Satellites pretty .Lucky Jim. (Noise which became a massive seller in . much starts where the last album left Factory) in a Blurish America and turned the radio-friendly on; big songs with big guitars. manner. There's grit-pop Single ‘Mi Jones’ into the ‘Hotel Shuttling the tracks from the two in your eye. Unlike California’ for the 90s. The song records would not suggest any obvious Edinburgh's Foil. shouty received more than a few spins here diiierences between two recording ml-fiamhiopss whose . too and through over-exposure, a sessions, three years apart. It filillhg, rattling bass llneS catchy tune rapidly turned into a anything there are more overblown EC,“ The P'X'es c'rc“ maior irritant. middle sections - with strings! -
f" Rm." L“ 1‘ 0° While excessive air I ' h h ' Black. (Thirteen) is mush ’ p ay is ardlyt e which further expose an Aoll heart ,0 Edvard Munch ,0. A band s fault, it does expose the beating beneath indie clothing. scream. Counting Crows’ fundamental Counting Crows are Alanis Morrisette
difficulty. Singer Adam ouritz’s for boys. (Eddie oibb)
45 The List 18-31 Oct 1996 k