The Dirty – Why, I Think It’s Love (Daniel Rawnsley)
****
It’s like Karen O grew a penis and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs fused with the White Stripes. If that doesn’t sound like your thing, then I recommend you make it your thing, then shake that thing to The Dirty. The husky voice of vocalist Kyrill is the kind of erotic that likes whips and chains. With a band that makes chaos sound cohesive you have a near perfect song of rock n’ roll punk sin. If it were longer it would get boring, but it isn’t and with a few quality remixes added on this single is a must.
Kylie Minogue – 2Hearts (James Pickering)
**
I shouldn’t like Kylie- she’s the sort of thing my dad and the rest of the baby-boomers live for. But the opening seconds of 2 Hearts nearly made me think again. Her new style (less cheesy disco, more pop-rock) is tempting, the background synth even smacks of Goldfrapp. But whereas Goldfrapp is the musical equivalent of KY Jelly, Kylie is Cadbury’s Buttons- sweet and popular, but bland and un-imaginative. Despite a promising opening, the inane chorus (“two hearts beating together, I’m in love wooo, is this forever wooo”) wears thin and the record is far too short to proffer any serious enjoyability. Still, it bodes for a decent album, and I strongly recommend you buy the rather artistic CD single just to pin it up and look ever so kitsch-modern.
The Courteneers – Acrylic (Rees Arnott-Davies)
*
Before writing this review I was told that The Courteeners were nothing but an Arctic Monkeys rip off, but that’s utter bollocks, they rip off The Libertines just as much, if not more. This tells lyrically (“You’re just like plasticine being moulded into a libertine dreamer”), but not nearly as much as it does musically. The entire lead guitar part seems to have been reconstructed note by note from The Libertines’ eponymous second album. That’s not to say it’s a bad single, it’s just average, and not innovatively average, derivatively average. But a lot of people like that, as shown by the success of The View, Razorlight, The Kooks et al. So if you like the same old shit sold to you as new, then go ahead and buy this single, I’m not going to stop you.
Cat the Dog – Gotta Leave (Pamela Takefman)
*
Cat the Dog's new single "Gotta Leave” tries to do too many things at once, and fails at each, making the listener want to head for the door with them. The lead singer has a Cobain-esque twang without the convincing enough anger, the poppy intervals and harmonies are oddly misplaced and the "leaving" metaphor is forced in every generic line of lyric. The only thing that seems to stand out about this single is how irritating it is. The press release claims that the band, like its name, "shouldn't really make sense themselves." Well, that seems to be about the only thing they have right.
Chris T-T – This Gun is Not A Gun (Daniel Rawnsley)
***
Chris T-T’s songs are good for their lyrics. There’s a fierce wit mixed with an angry passion and a message that really needs delivering. Kylie has released a single this week, no doubt cheery and nice, no doubt vacuous and inane. It might be worth thinking about something this week as well though – that’s where Chris comes in. The title track is not musically inspirational, but lines like ‘we’re fighting fire with fire, finally’ have an irony that punches through this. The real gem here, though, is ‘In the Dressing Room’, a little piece of something truly moving.
