A funk-soul Irish band that dress down their sweet and often saccharine polished power-pop midget-gems with no end of expletives and references to coming. And on the other side of the pond , the Scissor Scissors – a funk-soul American band that dress down their sweet and often saccharine polished power-pop midget-gems with no end of expletives and references to coming.
Ever seen the two of these together or am I just paranoid in thinking that Mick and Dave Pyro, Loose and Brez and the boys are indeed just Jack Shears and Babydaddy and co. without the braces and stilettos, the grooming devices and with a little less slap and tickle?
And what’s with the American accents? It sounds like a theatrical release of Hugh Laurie in House MD with a gobful of tissues in his mouth and a solid dose of Prozac providing a stiffy. Not that it isn’t entertaining. Title track, ‘Aaagh!’ boasts the same sleek, ice-cool funk riffs and falsettos as Bowie’s ‘Fame’ (and the same awkwardly, swaggering pace) whilst tracks like ‘The Translation’, ‘The Comeback’, ‘All Mine’ and ‘You Know It’ pursue a topsy-turvy soul-pop route that recall everyone from Hall and Oates, Mark Morrison to Prince and the Electric Six. And then there are those bizarre calypso moments and crazy Latin rhythms of ‘Break!’ and ‘Shame’ more than adequately filling the time between Basement Jaxx and Ricky Martin releases. It’s big, it’s brash and it’s literally sparkling with glam intentions, hopping from one genre to another with the kind of inhibition more commonly associated with lap dancers and tube commuters.
What’s real, eh? What’s authentic? Previous support of Ian Brown, Snow Patrol, Alabama 3, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, The Thrills, The Neville Brothers, The Zutons, Scissor Sisters and The Roots kind of makes authenticity an issue to be screwed-up and thrown from the window of Madame Tussauds.
Republic of Loose’s ‘Aaagh!’. Big fat fun in beards. With swearing … and unprotected anal sex.