Records
Summer. Banging Ibiza nights and lazy poolside days. right? No danger. cos Scotland is still ShrOUded in a miserable pub-rock log that just won't shift. Bob Cuba's Bounce EP (Fusion
.. ) is pedestrian indie-lite with no passion. while Stealer add funk but no feeling to the formula on The Man with the Dice EP (Stealer-
Music . ). Mutterfly's Better Days EP (demo .. ) fairs a little better but is still horribly derivative of its bland-rock roots. while Cosmic Rough Riders raise the ante a tad With the Sub-Fannies jangle of ‘Because You' (Measwed .. ).
'The Crush' (demo .. ) by STML is equally inconsequential and directionless. but at least has some balls about its dumb punky riffage. Which is still infinitely preferable to the insipid. Wishy-washy indie guff of “Into yOur Mind' (Red Tiger . l by Skin on Skin. which sounds like a million other unwashed and uninspired indie outfits. Super 8's 'Technicolor Melodies' (Human Condition .. l at least has some sass about its chilled-era Primal Scream grooves. and they're the first bunch here to show any promise whatsoever.
Not as much promise as LA nutjobs The Icarus Line. Love is Happiness EP (Sweet Nothing ... ) is a nasty. bilious. sub-Sub Pop. sick fuck of a reCOrd. and they are to be applauded for that. In comparison. Yeah Yeah Yeahs“ 'Pin‘ (Dress Up .. l is exposed as the posturing piece of prima dorina. prissy. art-punk pap that it is. Ach fuck it. the same goes for Ladytron's ‘EViI' (Telstar .. ). except replace ‘an punk' with 'nu-wave disco'.
Pl0ughing a similar retro furrow but With more style are Wigan Ioons Moco. whose ‘Miss Mantaray' (Poolside ... ) manages to sound like Pulp. Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Transvision Vamp all at once.
Next up some typically thrilling oddball stuff from Chemikal Undergr0und‘s Fukd Id series. Model Fighter's The Good Fighting EP (Chemikal Underground .... ) is an excellently wobbly sliver of organic. pastoral electronica in the Four Tet mould. while ‘12K Boost Boost' (Chemikal Underground .... l by Kempston, Protek end Fuller is all Boards of Canada queasiness and sleepy. backwards. ambient madness.
Public service announcement: crap hardcore punks. go Out and buy Single of the Fortnight, 1901. namely the re-released ‘First Demo Tape' (DischOrd .... l by a wee DC hardcore band called Minor Threat. Then give up. cos you'll never be anywhere near as good. While yOu're there. buy Single of the Fortnight. 2003 by insane seven-piece Aussie collective Machine Gun Fellatio. Their ridiculous IiiipOSSib/e Love EP (Doublethink .... ) is funky as hell, dirty as shit and utterly compelling. Lead track ‘Mutha Fukka on a Motorcycle' rules the roost. but throughout there are snippets of Beasties. Avalanches. Lo-Fi Allstars. Basement Jaxx. hell. even Betty Boo. ferchrissakes. Thank the L0rd. summer's here at last. (Doug Johnstone)
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