++SINGLE++ review by John McCarthy
Singles from this week reviewed by John McCarthy, including The Aliens, The Wombats, XX Teens and more...
SINGLE OF THE WEEK: THE ALIENS / ROBOT MAN (EMI)
On the second single from their wonderful ‘Astronomy For Dogs’ album The Aliens beam down and attempt to conquer the world with their woozy brand of futuristic robo-funk. By managing to effortlessly combine all that is great about pop music (a catchy melody, a funky piano break, lyrics about being a robot man) into one glorious summer defining tune, the Fife three piece have proven that their minds are immeasurably superior to ours.
We should all surrender to them now and if Will Smith or those scientists from E.T. arrive wanting to kill or internally probe The Aliens we should tell them to take their guns and tubes elsewhere. We're more than happy with our magnificently melodic new leaders.
"We should all surrender to them now and if Will Smith or those scientists from E.T. arrive wanting to kill or internally probe The Aliens we should tell them to take their guns and tubes elsewhere"
XX TEENS / DARLIN' (MUTE IRREGULARS)
They might not get the Single of The Week Award, but XX Teens can take comfort from winning this week's prestigious 'Band most likely to get your hard drive confiscated by the authorities when researching them on your home computer” prize*.
After spending many hours trawling through the seedier side of the internet on your behalf, Artrocker can confirm that ‘Darlin’ is a fine art rockin’ mess of a single. Singer Danny Fancy screams like the disturbed man that no-one wants to sit next to on the bus. He battles to make himself heard over an inspired mix of steel drums, choppy guitars and feisty trumpets. It's an enthralling fight and, in the end, knowingly arty punk pop is the winner.
* Note: Anyone wanting to learn more about Danny and his chums should visit www.xxteens.co.uk.
Anyone wanting to see pictures of teen girls having sex should visit www.xxteens.com
KATE NASH / FOUNDATIONS (POLYDOR)
Kate Nash is the new Lilly Allen. Lilly Allen was the female Mike Skinner. Mike Skinner was the British Eminem. Eminem was the rap Elvis. Therefore simple maths dictates that Kate Nash is the new female British Elvis. In particular she's Elvis during his under appreciated "Singing in a cockney accent about how crap ex-boyfriends are" period. 'Foundations' is a beautiful slice of summery pop which stays on the right side of the "Endearing vs. Annoying" divide by virtue of Nash's lovely deadpan vocals and the song's shimmery but subtle production. On the Elvis-o-meter it rates as being better than 'Jailhouse Rock' but not as good as 'In The Ghetto'.
ASH / POLARIS (WEA)
In today’s fast paced, constantly changing world it's comforting to know that you can always rely on Ash to pop up every couple of years, and release an album which is exactly the same as their previous one but with slightly different artwork. This year’s album is 'Twilight of the Innocents' and this year’s artwork involves moody silhouettes.
'Polaris' is Ash in overblown ballad mode rather than frantic punk pop mode - which is a shame because they're rather good at frantic punk pop and not very good at overblown balladeering. It's the tedious sound of a band treading water. A stopped clock is right twice a day but a quick glance at Artrocker's dodgy Rolex reveals that right now definitely isn't Ash time.
DATAROCK / I USED TO DANCE WITH MY DADDY (RCA)
Poor old Datarock, still hawking this tune around two years after it's parent album was released to mass critical acclaim and mass public indifference. It would appear that the unwashed masses were right to shun the Norwegian duo; with it's lumbering baseline, ZX Spectrum propelled melody and tedious vocals, "I Used To Dance With My Daddy" sounds like a Hot Chip b-side. Actually, singles don't have b-sides these days do they? So lets say it sounds like a drab Hot Chip free bonus mp3 track. That can't be a good thing.
Electro Note: If the band want advice on how we get our red-hot electronic pop fun in 2007 they should look no further than...
THE KLAXONS / IT’S NOT OVER YET (UNIVERSAL)
..on which The Klaxons take Grace's 1995 dance floor filling anthem 'Not Over Yet', and add squeaky synths and thunderous drums to create a frenetic and disheveled gem of a single. Whether the band are indie kids making dance music or dance kids making indie music is something for the genre classification experts at Wikipedia to worry about. For now we should concentrate on more important things such as jumping around wildly to this song and worrying about whether it's still permissible to use the term 'Nu-Rave' in polite society.
THE WOMBATS KILL THE DIRECTOR (14TH FLOOR)
The Wombats follow up the marvelous 'Backfire At The Disco' with another 3 minutes of frantic punk pop. This is cause for celebration because they're rather good at frantic punk pop. Actually, it would appear that lots of people are good at frantic punk pop. But very few people are good at woozy futuristic robo-funk. That's why The Aliens are the Single of the Week and The Wombats aren't.
++ John McCarthy ++
Artrocker rating: 5
The newest sounds as heard in the Artrocker Office and our Resonance FM podcast.
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