OK. executive decision time. We're not going to review the 50 bands releasing singles this week who are trying to sound like the Libertines. Franz Ferdinand Or Razorlighl. They are all driveIOus rubbish -.,drivel0us isn't a word. but it should be and I‘m starting the campaign right here:. Right. that's thinned the pale down. let‘s get on.
Hats off to The Fallout Trust. whose 'When We Are Gone' A. Large 00. starts off glitchy. goes pop. turns epic. then ends up sounding l:ke Mike Oldfield gamintng truth U2. lt's "tental but great.
Martin Grech 2s also mental. but frightening mental as opposed to funny mental. and the simmering apocalypse of ‘(Suiltless' {lstandf .000 is a one-man Nine Inch Naiés. so scary rt genuinely ra:ses the hairs on the back of your neck. This is the soandtrack to the most fucked up horror movie ever made.
Now. local bands for local people. The Plimptons are ll.i(;l:croi.is. but I assume they're meant to be. ‘John lvlaior‘ ilvan Lendili 00 is like Ha:l Man Half Biscuit fronted by lvor Cutler. except nowhere near as good as that s ‘unds. At the other end of a siriiilarzy turri'y spectrum Clearfall's ‘Sculpt Paint Sketch Ifi'lectric Honeyi O is anaemic. lacklustre inure rock fare with no ideas. scant meicdy and less charisma. The Hazy Janes fair better. 'After Al:' lMOéiStlFCUl 00. borrow/trig coantry rock rnox'es and harmonies froin the .layhawks and Uricie Tupelo to fine effect.
All Night Disco Party" «‘l-‘lougl‘i trade 0.. by Brighton's Brakes codd get done tll‘it'le' the trade descriptions act. cos its actually a punking Krautrocking throb of a tune. making :t a damn sight more interesting that". Moby’s ‘Spiders' (Mater 0 . which aims for anthemic dance but is as flat as a pancake and as thin as a Rizla
if it's cool dance beats you're after look no further than LCD Soundsystem's 'Disco lnfrltrator’ (DFAi 000 . a funky mash up of bloops. srtiuonks and off-killer vocals. And right oat there in cuckooiand is Saul Williams. whose ‘List of Demands (Wichilal 000 is an iinliinged. frantic scramble of a tune. part punk rant. part fucked up dancehall. part lo-ti disco swamp blues. probably.
Which is good. but not as good as Our Joint Singles of the Fortnight. spanning two musical generations of the same maverick genius. Firstly the re-release of remastered pre-grunge sacker anthem 'Freak Scene' iSweet Nothingi a... by Dinosaur Jr. still an awesomely ramshackle. gloriously uplifting romp of a rock song alter all these years. And sharing the top prize with himself. kind of, is ex-Dinosaur Lou Barlow. whose 'Holding Back the Year' i'Dominot m is a gOrgeously understated little acoustic chuggle of a tune. as loveable as a kitten and as liez-irtwarmiiig as a single malt. iDoug Johnstonei
wt Loud
4 hinterland death-rock sound.
Like fellow noiseniks Mog‘.'.'ai or AtE’OOQ't’l'll'l‘t} but with a Metallica complex. soi‘gs ke "lore." Nt.'l‘.l)(}" One and ‘sze \'."'i'::'igs' a"e yuggc-r'iauts '>‘ r “-"~::-a‘.y gu tars. .'.aw."g voca s and farm rig drums. t"e kind
‘1': ng '.'s no "t‘ess sir-c r‘g to .."less rained ..: 1.; “. Rock on. Doug Ji)"'l$t()ll8l
ROCK
OASIS
Don’t Believe the Truth (Big Brother‘i COO
read sori‘e‘.'."iiei‘e that this sixth Oasis albun‘ .'.as ke the s.xth Star [Jars n‘ox e: an -::i:ii>"‘taii‘, '.',’tl(}"(} all the fits of Sue past El'ltl the wounlcdge gathered oxer the years come to fitiitio". in o"e hon‘l)astic
package. S<::-fi fans way
i:-:: :t:‘.'.’ar(te(l but there's '.; fltriitl iandii‘ark for ()ass. {)or‘Y Believe the lair" is no iiioii‘ent of 9‘ story but Stlt)‘.‘.’S a t:a'i<i gunning up f':;;(2t"er from :i:::'.atorsnit; to. wetl. a .‘ltt‘. the if'ic' ads helping out. fSlii t t><:-t'.'.'een '“cn‘c'its of u‘agic and ;. Noel is f";t."{ttl"ltl to expanding t‘if; "‘tlfStCEtt smash and gran to .nclude :iioi‘e of fine Kinks. Stones and f:'.t‘:.'l the Velvet U'YlffltllOtlllH on 'tvlucky l ingers'. This is classic ()asis: moments of blinding triun‘uh 'l(l(tt(}(t tfii'ougfi ‘.'./lttl glaring iiroii‘cnts of ham-listed l)|()(l. Patchy. but that s;>t:<:al g'iiiinie"
’tlilféttthfil’lll)
'Maik lloheitsoni
1/ \J/ .//
YELLOW JACKETS Altered State
tic-ads Hill 0.. Yt:ll<i.'.ia;:kc'.s can ustiall, lit,- t(:l!(}(t on to (rush lirryoikt tlie
standard banalities and n‘uso slickness of quion to discover something much more interesting to a Jazz senSibility. Altered State is no exception. and the surface ease of their attractive melodies. clever harmonies and slippery manipulations of metro gradually reveals their characteristically imaginative interaction at work beneath the surface. Bob Mintzer's sinuOus saxophone lines are as ear—catching as ever. sliding across the tlgttth, -knit iiitel‘(_)iay' Of Russell Ferrante ikey'Si. Jimmy Haslip (bassi and Marcus Baylor (drumsr As on their last two albun‘s. Jean Baylor adds a smooth vocal to her own coii‘position. The Hope'.
(Kenny Mathiesoni
POP TI-IE CORAL The Invisible Invasion lDeltasonici 0..
Just because you're
p; ranord doesn't mean the third and a half LP fron‘ the Coral isn't out to get you. First it intrigues. then it beguzles. now it confuses. Be \.'.'arned: you way even enter its \.'.'orld. starting to think in charming. it meaningless. lyrical couplets and wondering why other bands — Supm‘ Fury Animals aside — don't do folksy psycht-xlelic whimsy this well.
Sadly. there are no polkas or sea—sliaiities here but there's certainly a surplus of wonky cool. So if your response to
the question of ‘would you dance with the lepers in the madman's house?” is an affirmative then you“ know the kooks are in the ascendancy.
Elsewhere there remains the echo of Liverpool's early 80s and enough 60$ magic dust to make Lee lvlavers gesundheit. but somehow this proves to be a record the Sum of whose parts don't quite tally. (Rodger Evansl
METAL
SYSTEM OF A DOWN Mezmerize (American) 0...
System of a Down's first two albums were a revelation on how liberating. expanSive and relevant metal can be. creating their own blueprint of serrated time frames. screamed histrionics and infinitely dextrous fret work. This is another triumph of mutated musical form over conventionality: geek rock meets intricate Armenian folk on ‘RadioVideo': R88 is welded to thrash for ‘BYOB'. There's vocal insanity and Crooned refrain in 'Violent Pornography — all With subverswe political messages buried within. What could be discordant chaos is all underpinned by a Singular world vision creating a solid. startling whole. And there's still a second album to come later in the year.
(Henry Northmorel
SYNTH ROCK MAXIMO PARK A Certain Trigger (Warp) 0000
You may have heard comparisons being made between this Newcastle fivesome and the Futureheads. but after 30 seconds of this magi'iificent debut it
becomes clear that you might as well liken Arab Strap to the Proclaimers. because all they have in common .5 the fact that they Sing in their own regional accents.
For a start A Certain Trigger is a much more diverse offering than Maxrmo Park's Sunderland-born counterparts have ever attempted. complete With soaring SynthS. Spiky guitars. pummelling oass. blips'n'beats and the most intelligent lyrics this Side of Jarvis Cocker A perfect slice of snappy. catchy. caustic pop and utterly essential as a reswt. Camilla Pia)
ALSO RELEASED
Faithless Forever Faithless (Cheeky) A dozen years. a million glowsticks and several thousand epic breakdowns rounded up in 16 tracks. Kraftwork Minimum Max/mum ('E/W) A double CD collection of live tracks culled from the band’s recent world excurSions.
Turin Brakes Jack/nAbox (Source) More panoramic acoustic beauty from the Brixton-based duo.
Tho Afternoons Rocket Summer (Saturday Records) Indie Quintet from Cardiff arouse attention with a third album of dreamy indie sparkle.
Roky Erickson
Don 't Slander Me and Gremlins Have Pictures (Rykodi‘sci‘ Legendary 13th Floor Elevators leader has two of his rare solo albums of psychedelic madness unleashed for a second time.
ALL COS WERE WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
72 THE LIST