18 April 2008

by Tom Mendelsohn

Goldfrapp, Vinny Vinny, Against Me, Martha Wainwright, Padma, Simple Plan, Forward Russia, White Williams, The London Fractures, Plastic Little, Tindersticks, Kraak and Smaak, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Headway

"A return to the all warm 'n' fuzzy vibe of their gorgeous first album."

Goldfrapp - Happiness
In which Goldfrapp make a pleasing volte-face and return to the all warm 'n' fuzzy vibe of their gorgeous first album. This they do well, but then they have always been on the side of good.

Vinny Vinny - Broke Up The Family
One of the problems of our post-everything world is the fact that yesteryear doesn't have a genre someone isn't misguidedly willing to exhume. So here we have four white guys making a ham-fisted attempt at Motown; they sound like Gomez plays Amy Winehouse, with all the ghastly that entails.

Against Me - Stop
For a band of angry leftist punks, Against Me are endearingly silly. We have no idea if this is deliberate, but we hope so. Here they juxtapose more important political sloganeering against a jolly, daft funk-punk musical score. The b-side remix sounds a little bit like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and we absolutely do not want it to end.

Martha Wainwright- Bleeding All Over You
More singer-songwriter non-music from a lady erroneously touted as a character; this is nauseating and empty.

Padma - Spacefood & Balloons
Yet *more* singer-songwriter non-music. Spacefood & Balloons & Shit.

Simple Plan - Your Love Is A Lie
Your love is the sound of a Canadian emo boyband greedily ticking every box put in front of them. It's phat, at least a bit, if a little corrosive on the soul.

Forward Russia - Breaking Standing
We prefer Minus The Bear to At The Drive-In, so Forward Russia's new melodic direction makes for an enjoyable change of pace.

White Williams - The New Violence
Despite sounding inescapably like Hot Chip, White Williams skilfully avoids being bad like they are and pulls an engagingly melodic rabbit from his gentle synth hat.

The London Fractures - Show Us Yours
Joyously, this appears to be an album, so we aren't going to spend any more than the 20 seconds already invested in listening to this woeful odyssey of post-Libertines awfulness.

Plastic Little - Get Close
"Baby wait a sec/Have some triple sec/Nipples all erect/Be my Chia Pet/Tell your friends to check, girl, I'm going home with you/Get close/I wanna talk about my bone with you". You want to hate Plastic Little for that, but you can't because they are actually really good. Here, they critique just about everything, hilariously, while rapping to - of all things - Close To Me by The Cure.

Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw
Interminable schmindie.

Kraak & Smaak - Squeeze Me
A proficient if uninspired attempt at 'future funk'. This equates to ordinary funk made with a drum machine, we assume.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Rich Woman
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, direct to your dinner parties.

Headway - The Start EP
Headway apparently started with two childhood mates 'frustrated by a lack of ambition' and leaving their old band. If this trad-rock nonsense is what they think ambitious is, one fairly dreads to imagine what they were making before. Metronome covers?

Comments

hyper_cofee_man said on April 18th 2008 [report abuse]

loving the goldfrapp single. doing what they do best and a wicked video to go with! had forgotten about them but really like this single and the last one. her voice comes over so well over the dancey beats and bass. ace

18 April 2008

by Tom Mendelsohn

Comments

hyper_cofee_man said on April 18th 2008 [report abuse]

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