Bloc Party
There's a definite sense of gloom hanging (/le this fortnight'r, bunch. particularly fr’Jrn the Glaswegiaan Make Model prove that mom I. needn't t)(,‘ filtflUUt a sense of humour in 'liie Was' (FMli O... . whose grungy fifth”. of 'Comatose stoned Softening the blow' are mocked by outbursts of ska 0 Without U prowde an llfl(l()lll[)ll(,‘£,lt(?’t slice of ,'.‘ilS(;f‘, rock With 'One Piece Pu/xle' ilrlot' (‘iuts' Her; irdsli .0 but total despair is; riuii‘kiy ayeited by the plinky olonky electro sounds of Drive-by Arguments rocky ‘1 eff. l eft. Walk l oiward. Get on the Dragon' ili/aid King Recoids‘i
COO . and Big Face':; ‘I Wanna Be a Style Crusadoi' (Kitsunel 0..
Meanwhile in Edinburgh. nobody has told The Havex that sex isn't shocking anymore lhe monotonous and slightly obnoxious 'Don't rillltk About Sex' (Kean Audio) 0 dares you to do Just that. but it's more l:ke|y you'll be thinking that you'd better run to the bar before something good comes on
But back to our scheduled gloom and angst. Lau (Reveal Records) .00 offer up inouinful folky echoes of The Decembeiistt; and. .vhile they lack the same glorious weaidness. Lau's haunting sound makes them more distinctive at least than DeVotchKa. whose 'You Love Me' (ANTI) COO nods in "l he Decembeiists' general direction. while also evoking Radiohead's whiniei moments
Some more SltU'dthll-t3l)(}(IlflC misery from Editors. who try to evoke the angst of haying a ‘real' [Ob in "The Racing Hats' iKitchenware)
O. and largely fail to convince us they've ever done anything more spiritually taXing than Croon their way through this melodramatic high- energy nonsense. Simon Breed however succeeds in capturing 9»to5 angst almost too perfectly in 'Finish My Book‘ (Re Action Recordingsi 00.0 . an ode to the escape of burying yourself in a book on the morning commute while life ticks dieaiily past yOu
Amid all this desolation. Single of the fortnight is nabbed by Bloc Party‘s distinctly ungloomy 'l-lux' (Wichita Recordingsi ooooo coupling their Signature urgency Witl‘. a thumping new bassline. The kids might not like the Ciazy electro SOLinds and vocoder distortion. weirdly reminiscent of that Cher song. but this explosive. frantic anthem might Just have them dancing in spite of themselves. (Cate SllltpSOltl
RO‘J’lN-J‘ftt;
NEW HUMAN' C LEGENDS
DURAN DURAN Red Carpet Massacre iRCA» C.
In the 30-min .txa's
since the 07 g "a 1i?
met“: their serarate cor“: :xit _"‘:i waxs. Durai" Card." "as: sess ; yrs .z'X} plastered the snacks r‘ ege".:.‘i". ; their line—up t" sac" ~ C" s ~ N e
62 THE LIST ‘:~ .1" \
taken: In Return i‘ r ' coo
i‘ I, ° \‘I L4 I t 'I
DJ VADIM The Sound Catcher Extras
H’” .0.
BRITNEY
SPEARS
Blackout .0.
Producer Record company
execufive-wi'¢
R E. w P ‘.' ' RCE ' P I I
Britney Spears P 8. RC8
BMx BANDITS Bee Stings
CHIHIRO YAMANAKA Lach Doch Mal ; " 2' ...
FRASER
ANDERSON
Coming Up for Air
NINE BLACK ALPS
Love/
Hate . COO