Seven inch round-up
Harry Pye and Chris Tosic decided it was time to write some reviews of the new sounds that are bouncing around the Le Document office. If you want us to review your new record send it in …
Pandemic Man — Grave Thy Victory
★★★☆☆
This is a clever parody of an imagined record by The Fall. It's definitely got the vocals down to a tee. The intonation and metre of the lyrics really sum up what Mr Smith would have probably cobbled together based on newspaper headlines and populist/provocative rants. I'd give it another listen from a novelty point of view. The other tracks on Soundcloud are worth a listen to, they're all around 1.30 - 2.30 mins long so give them a go. I'd like to give this more stars but I'm going for three.
Harry added: Pandemic Man by Grave Thy Victory is an amusing ponder on what the late Mark E. Smith might have made of the Covid virus. The line about “Trump Drinks Bleach” is spot on. I love M.E.S and in my opinion this is as good as many of the songs on The Fall’s 1988 album, The Frenz Experiment.
Micko & The Mellotronics — Noisy Neighbours (Landline Records)
★★★★☆
Micko's follow up to the marvellous debut single, The Finger maybe less wild but, like its predecessor, it features great guitar work from (ex Banshee) Jon Klein. This song wouldn't be out of place on an early 90s album by Pulp or Sleeper. The poppy beat certainly gets the toe tapping, the lyrics are fun and the track doesn't outstay it's welcome. It's grown on me a lot after a few listens and I can really hear this on Radio 6's more left-field late night programmes. Is it trying too hard to be indie -pop? I'll let you decide, I'm just going to give it another spin on my virtual record deck ...
Fatberg — Art of Sod
★★★★☆
Rather impressively, Fatberg have been hanging out in the legendary Abbey Road Studio. The band have been building up a live following in South East London and go down well with fans of "Drain Blockin' Rock 'n' Roll." Track one, Believer is fine, fast and fun - the sort of thing John Peel would get excited about. Art of Sod is far better though and features an astonishing vocal from Jim Aucutt . When he insists to his landlord he can't pay his rent as his money is all spent you believe him. If he keeps making records as good as this maybe his ship will come in.
The Courettes — Want you! Like a Cigarette (Damaged Goods Records)
★★★★☆
Want You! Like a Cigarette is hugely entertaining homage to perfect 60s sound of The Ronettes. It would be great to hear this single blasting out the radio or at the end of a John Waters film.
The b-side Night Time is also hard to dislike. The "night time is the right time" lyrics are all you need to hear when you're dancing the evening away
Other songs by this band such as I've Been Walking (for 1,000 years) could not sound more like Billy Childish and The Milkshakes if they tried. Billy Childish doesn't tour much these days and The Cramps are dead so going to see The Courettes live is the closest you're going to get to that raw garage rock and roll sound that so few can recreate. There's a wildness about their sound that puts a smile on my face.
Secret Elvis listener …
Elvis Costello — No Flag
★★★★☆
We couldn’t stop playing this one when we discovered it. Great video and great tune. It doesn’t sound like Elvis Costello straight away but once the vocals kick in there is no turning back. The guitar riff is pumping and there’s just about the right amount of anger to make it all work. Some odd sound effects float around here and there but nothing that gets in the way. For this track his band The Imposters are nowhere to be seen and every instrument you hear is played by Mr Costello. Many Elvis fans were surprised last year when he accepted the honour of being awarded an O.B.E from the Conservative leader Theresa May. Making reference to the subject matter of some of his most famous political songs, Costello quipped at the time, "(receiving this award) confirms my long held suspicion nobody really listens to the words in songs." For the hand made video that goes with this new track the lyrics are actually written out for us. He tells us, "I've got no religion. I've got no philosophy." and yes, no great love of flag waving either. And why not? George Bernard Shaw claimed, "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it" And more recently Banksy observed, “People who enjoy waving flags don't deserve to have one.” We're living in scary and uncertain times at the moment so it's good to see Elvis Costello still has a bit of fire in his belly and that his aim is still true.
KJ & The Fox — Perfect Moments
★★★☆☆
The curiously named, KJ & The Fox, are a new London four piece. Their bass player is Rhodri Marsden who has collaborated with everyone from Green Gartside’s Scritti Politti to the legendary Frank Sidebottom.
‘Perfect Moment’ is good. It reminds me of classy Indie Pop songs from the 90s like, Johnny Teardrop by Edwyn Collins and it makes me curious to know what else they have up their sleeves.
CT adds: The PR letter says this track was inspired by a chapter in the existentialist novel Nausea by Jean Paul Satre. I don’t think much good comes from making statements like that but apart from that I quite enjoyed the deadpan delivery of the tune.
Seer Believer — So Much Like Perfect
★★☆☆☆
This is very Radio 6 friendly. It’s not bad but it’s also a bit bland. I wonder what this would sound like without all the production which has turned into some kind of homogenized pop. Apparently the press release says it’s about about getting lost in things (family, relationships, addiction) and finding your way through. That’s a good starting point but you need to stick to the plan, this just drifted too much and I think it lost its way after bar 24. Better luck next time.
