Graham Quinn's laptop gets all confused by the latest batch of singles

Viking Moses - Swollen & Small - The Songs Of Neutral Milk Hotel
(pictured left)
[Released 26/03/07; Fire]


Something of a labour of love then, with the sleevenotes admitting this CD is really nothing more than Viking Moses (aka Brendon Massei) 'strumming out the chords to your favourite songs'. Better this, though, than over-reverential recreations which lose everything they are trying to recreate - these heartfelt renderings are rich, using fuzz-toned guitars and Massei's raw, sometimes fractured but always strong voice. There's a touch more instrumentation on the final track, Holland 1945, but it's the more solo stylings of the other tracks that shine brightest. Gardenhead / Leave Me Alone and Where You'll Find Me Now swathe themselves in noisy chords that envelope you. Single of the Fortnight, purely because it's the one record that genuinely doesn't sound like anything else and walks its own path. Even though it's a covers record.
Artist website: www.firerecords.com

Dan Sartain - Thought It Over
[released 02/04/07; One Little Indian]


The winner of this fortnight's worst and most bullshitty press release award goes to Mr. Sartain, and given his single is released in the same batch as Razorlight's, you have to take your hat off to the wonderful people in PR.

Despite being "born of fire and baptized in the tears of Johnny Cash", notwithstanding being "the voice and soul of this generation's rock'n'roll youth", with due reference to Sartain being "a one man hurricane", Thought It Over is naught but a pallid piece of guitar rock. Simple of riff, sturdy of tempo, no doubt earnest in its lyrical message, it's sadly so far from standing out in any particular way it might actually be outshone by the cover of grandma's favourite Besame Mucho, which accompanies it.
Artist website: www.myspace.com/dansartain

The Noisettes - Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit)
[released 29/01/07; Vertigo]


That's the way to do it..... capture the spirit indeed The Noisettes do, specifically that of rockabilly speed merchants on their way to oblivion etc etc, but with a ferocity and verve above and beyond that cliché. Sister Rosetta crashes along from first to last, guitars turned to OUCH! underpinned by a striding, purposeful rhythm section, soulful, powerful yet measured vocals, punctuated by a couple of fantastic changes of pace. They're not as indier-than-thou than, say, The Gossip either, embracing a sense of rock classicism whilst still embodying something very much of the now. Idle tat note: my iTunes thought this cd contained Simian Kind by Groop Dogdrill. Scary.
Artist website: www.myspace.com/noisettesuk

The Holloways - Dancefloor (Clean Radio Edit)
[released 12/03/07 TVT]


Indie? or Schmindie? This seems to be the eternal question these days, when any band comes along wearing their Babyshambles/Libertines influences so obviously sleevewise in the way The Holloways do. Dancefloor at least goes some way to moving the debate on a little, being a robust and spunky piece of indie pop, chronicling the highs and the lows of nights on the lash, and coming crumbling to rest much like we all do on said occasions. Indie discos will no doubt bounce and throb to this tune, but it shouldn't be sidelined to just that territory. The observational lyric might not trouble too many academics, but it doesn't come across as trying to - it's a moment captured, a moment that happens to be repeated every weekend and thus the images carry a familiarity, rather than trying to carry any spurious notion of weight. Idle Tat #2: my iTunes thought THIS cd contained.....Simian Kind by Groop Dogdrill......is my laptop posessed by the spirit of South Yorkshire cock-rock?
Artist Website: www.the-holloways.com

Thirteen Senses - All The Love In Your Hands (Radio Edit)
[released 19/03/07; Vertigo]


Sometimes you can want a hit record too badly. All airy, lifeless verses, and attempts at the kind of Coldplay / Keane / Snow Patrol type of 'bigness' that passes for substance. Replete with an early U2-lite guitar solo, I'd have been much more bored had it not been for the startling revelation that this was actually, according to iTunes, Simian Kind by Groop Dogdrill.
Artist website: www.thirteensenses.com

The Rapture - Pieces of the People We Love
[released 19/03/07; Vertigo]


The Rapture always fell short of the sum of their described parts for me, all cool influences and so very hip but ultimately disappointing. The presence of Danger Mouse on production at least bode well at first - sadly they forgot the song, forgot that you can't polish the proverbial. Essentially it's a clumsy mix of electronica, indie and a new wave/glam stomp which doesn't come off - an oil and water situation, never finding a mix. Oh, and Groop Dogdrill, etc.....
Artist website: www.therapturemusic.com

 
Razorlight - I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got
[released 19/03/07; Vertigo]


Aahh, fancy cardboard sleeve with tearable opening system to prevent the heinous act of promo flogging. This must be a major release, by a band of singular and unparalleled importance - of course, it's Razorlight. I should be aware of their importance already, how remiss of me. I apologise to the band, their families, their fans, their pets, etc (not so important that they can fight off the spirit of Groop Dogdrill however). Obscenely self important. Lyrically juvenile. An insult to even the deaf.
To paraphrase both George Orwell and one of the best lines ever in music criticism, this record is the sound of white jeans being stuffed into the gaping maw of humanity....forever.
Artist website: www.razorlight.co.uk

Longcut - You Got The Love / Idiot Check
[released 19/03/07; Melodic]


Manchester's Longcut take their life in my hands with a cover of The Source / Candi Staton's You Got The Love. How precious will I need to be about one of the greatest tunes ever? Not very -  as soon as it starts you realise it was made for fuzz bass and bellowed vocals, and their slowed, skewed take on the tune is again so much more satisfying than a slavish copy. This AA single is completed with Idiot Check, an outtake from their album of last year, but I'm inclined to believe them when they say that was due to it not fitting in with the whole rather than a quality issue. Electro beats joust with live drums, bass and guitar weaving around each other, rising and rising to a tumultuous crescendo. Cool. No Dogdrill here though - Borrell and his ilk must have scared them off..... .
Artist website: www.thelongcut.com

Archie Bronson Outfit - Dart For My Sweetheart
[released 26/03/07; Domino]


Tribal drumming meets angular yet bluesy guitar on this burst of rifferama. The chanted chorus fits the rythmn, but also contrasts with Sam Windett's yelping verses, and yet the whole thing undulates along just a bit aimlessly - perhaps it just doesn't have the legs for its whole four minutes. In The Shadow of Love fares much better, coming on like The Velvets filtered through Tom Waits' mind, and third track Fire Horse takes something of the lead track's template but puts a bit more in the tank - and therefore provides a more satisfying experience all round.
Artist website: www.archiebronsonoutfit.co.uk

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Strange Form Of Life
[released 19/03/07; Domino]


Another track taken from The Letting Go, backed with re-workings of old and new(er) tracks, there's value for money in this package - however, thankfully that's not all the value. Strange Form of Life is a beautiful, lamenting haze of a song, dappled with electric guitar, and what is ostensibly a duet between Billy and Dawn McCarthy filling the landscape with rich images of longing, searching for "the heart and the soft kiss in the dark room". The extra tracks are solo performances, stark, melancholic, but with those inflections of hope and glory that make the melancholy so irresistable.
Artist website: www.dominorecordco.com

BONUS REVIEW

Groop Dogdrill - Simian Kind
[released 05/09/00; Mantra]

One - I had to find out. Two - It's very poor. Three - It's still better than Razorlight.

Comments:

Singles Round-Up, 15/03/07 ianc21    March 15th, 2007 - 6:08 PM Agreed - Viking Moses are lush.

Re: Singles Round-Up, 15/03/07 Graham Quinn    March 15th, 2007 - 6:26 PM totally new to me, really liked it - will be finding out a lot more

Singles Round-Up, 15/03/07 Geoff    March 17th, 2007 - 10:13 PM "I can't stop this feeling I've got"? Then put the instruments down and leave us alone  - you dull, dull muscial pygmies. There's something about Will Oldham that just makes me want to punch his face...no explanation, it just ..*feels* right.

Re: Singles Round-Up, 15/03/07 Graham Quinn    March 17th, 2007 - 10:22 PM alright chief!!!!!!

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