In 1983 ‘The Young Ones’ was funny, fresh and anarchic. The ‘Comic Strip Presents…’ was perhaps even better. In fact in some ways it seemed Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson, Ade Edmondson and Nigel Planer could do no wrong. But they could, or so it soon transpired. They could take what was a faintly grittier Spinal Tap, an extended joke about lavatories, a new found confidence with the UK music chart courtesy of two cheesy no.1 singles (‘Living Doll’ and ‘Hole Continue Reading
With a simple turn of phrase and a precious larynx to turn it, ex-Breeder, Belly and Throwing Muse, Tanya Donelly lulls James Berry into a false sense of security only to strip him naked.10/08/2004 She begins tonight’s performance in exactly the same way as she begins her sumptuous and still new record, with ‘Divine Sweet Divide’; unoppressive piano, a whole lot of close open space and words that flutter from her tongue toward the dusty horizon like petals lifted effortlessly Continue Reading
There are but four of The Earlies, and conventionally so, but there is the feeling that they amount to much more than that. The reality is that this debut album of multi-faceted croaky psychedelic pop was indeed crafted by many hands – a flute here, an oboe just there – weighing in with as many as 11 bodies live, but that’s not quite what we mean, although it does give the record a convincing vastness. The band were founded largely, Continue Reading
Tanked up and turfed out, James Berry bows out of Glatonbury 2004.21/07/2004 65 x 2 = Wicked & Weird We’ve been here for days, for 4 in fact. Even though they’ve passed so rapidly it feels more like a handful of disjointed hours and snatched moments. We know that can’t be the case – our head’s holding a dull pain captive, eyes hang sticky with sleep, our skin’s developing a unique new shade, and a stale fragrance stalks us to Continue Reading
Last time The Thermals made an album they hardly upset the order of things. Barely created a through-draft, threw it down in about four and a half seconds onto a reel of tape no higher quality than a dusty old ball of string. It was the grubbiest, zestiest, most lo-fi punk record released last year, probably. And buried somewhere amongst the static were some of the most untainted pop head-rushes we’d heard since Green Day started throwing bite-size strops, or Continue Reading
Take that! And that, and that, and that, and that, and that and that! And that! In quick succession, hard, repeatedly. And thus you already understand every last one of the 33 minutes on The Futureheads’ debut album. Only of course the name is a misnomer, nothing futuristic about them at all, the contents of their skulls or any other part of their juddering hyperactive bodies for that matter. But The Retroheads is a rubbish name. No prizes for guessing Continue Reading
Natasha House observes local boys The Departure outplayed and outshone by the bright conceptual haircuts and indie perfection of our American hosts, The Killers.21/07/2004 A prophet is never appreciated in his hometown, or so said some famous Biblical guy. Unsurprising then, that when asked if they were excited about local boys the Departure, the resounding silence of the sold-out Northampton Soundhaus crowd was barely cracked by a couple of doleful cheers. Uproarious applause for the Killers soon identified which name Continue Reading
Isaac Brock is the deadbeat bum across the street wearing three jackets and an insane smile, dancing under the beating sun for quarters and warm beer, as the local kids point and jibe and ponder just how exactly a misshape like that gets a girlfriend. He’s also the intoxicating drifter gazed at adoringly by his girlfriend who can’t fathom why on earth those infuriating little shits across the way find him such an object of ridicule. This is a record Continue Reading
Courting as it does the coiffure and razzle of the catwalk and the fabulous glamour of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy emporium, there simply couldn’t have been a more fitting title. But ‘Cruising Attitude’ does far more than tip winks and doff references to cruising speeds and to the lavish fancies of a shag-pile business class (even if the unashamedly kitsch album cover suggests otherwise). It’s cool and it’s slick yes, but the record’s smooth and easy tempos extend well beyond the remits of artifice Continue Reading
If a ‘quirky approach’ was the only prerequisite for musical greatness then folks like The Barron Knights, Weird Al“ Yankovic and Timmy Mallett would have been monopolising the shortlists for Mercury, Brit, Grammy and Billboard awards for years. But the sad truth of the matter is, it isn’t. Only in politics can the spurious and the absurd provide any clear substitute for cultural worth; a statement more than ably supported by the electoral jape that was the formal inauguartion of Continue Reading