21 March 2008

Sonny J - Enfant Terrible
A French Go! Team in all regards except that it doesn't suck, not one bit. Thinking about it, then, Sonny J is *nothing* like The Go! Team, and everything like the best single of the week by all the miles in the country.

B-52's - Funplex
It pains us to say this, truly it does, but 'Funplex' sounds like your slightly confused grandparents covering 'Love Shack' at 7/8 speed without really knowing what it's about, or whether the war is over yet. Which is essentially what 'Funplex' actually is, provided, at least, you are the grandchild of one of the band members.

Truckers Of Husk - Physical Education EP
A dreary and inconsequential stab at non-heavy, non-intricate math rock. Yes, we know that description doesn't work; neither does the band.

Samantha Marais - Please Take Your Time/First Days Of June
Inflictor of '60s folk whimsy' Samantha Marais seems to have been abused as a child - her father played her a bunch of Bob Dylan records. Listen to the fucking music! Actually, don't.

The Secret Handshake - Gamegirl
Starts slowly, this song. We were all ready to eviscerate it with our trademark sabertooth critical aplomb, but what starts out as a track by an American vocoder fiend who seems not quite to get dance music ends up totally fucking wailing.

Billy Bragg - I Keep Faith
Instead of getting all het up about 'social injustice' and 'trade unions', we really sincerely wish Billy Bragg would worry a bit more about his sorry fucking excuse for songwriting.

Punx Soundcheck & Chanty Poe - Inferno EP
Synths, arranged amazingly and with no small craft considering the difficulty of the art, into quite a boring configuration. Honestly, who can even make synth music this boring? Punx Soundcheck & their 'sinister alter ego' Chanty Poe, that's who.

Tom Baxter - Tell Her Today
Another shoddy-sounding song with a woo-y finish. Man, maybe we should listen to more of these singles all the way through. This time a whispery-voiced fellow croons anguishédly about a dull love affair in quite an unremarkable piano-led fashion until he pulls his finger out and his band collecively spazzes their way into a stay of execution.

Moby - Alice
In an effort to add a dash of contemporaneous relevence to his work, Moby has got some rappers in to chant over his customary techno-rock - explosively introducing finger to pulse. In fairness to the dear little homunculus, the remixes are all pretty rad, and he has had, like, a bunch of orgies.

The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind (2008 Remix By Kleerup)
This isn't even a remix - practically the whole song remains. At best, it's been re-produced, which we guess works as a kind of weak pun. Erase and rewind, indeed.

The Enemy - This Song Is About You
If this song really was about me, it would be the man from Mclusky shrieking 'fuck The Enemy' for 30 intense seconds. The Enemy, in case you were wondering, are a truly objectionable band, and this is their ass-est single yet. They aren't even fucking consistent.

The Maybes? - Talk About You
Post-Libertines. The worst single of the week in another tight field.