This Week's Music Single Reviews
MANIC STREET PREACHERS - (It's Not War) - Just The End Of Love
Britpop's last standing band, the Manic Street Preachers, show that there is still life in the old genre yet. James Dean Bradfield recently told the NME about their new album that "We're going for big radio hits on this one." He was right. This is a big indie-pop song right out of 1996.
Sure, it may sound slightly bland to career peaks like A Design For Life or Motorcycle Emptiness. But this is a tasty little reminder about why many Electric Banana writers and music fans have a little soft spot for a fairly uncool band that, as years have gone on, have looked more and more like the winners of a rubbish Paul Merton lookalike contest. Good work!
Rated 4 out of 5
EXAMPLE - Last Ones Standing
Elliot John Gleave is a garage MC guy, who got his Example name because of his name's initials, e.g., which for those of you who are not aware of the basics of English Language like wot we are (joke), means 'example'.
This track kicks off with a cheesy pop electro explosion, the kind of slap around the face that instantly gets you listening. The song is basically a stabbing synth 80's riff that makes us place Example in the same file as Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris in the "annoyingly commercial, but actually quite good in a rubbish way" file.
Rated 4 out of 5
PAUL WELLER - Fast Car / Slow Traffic
Paul Weller, the bookies fave for the Mercury Music Prize - well done Ladbrokes, took everyone by suprise last year by releasing an album that suprisingly wasn't complete and utter BORING twoddle! Actually, even Weller's critics (of which there are many) proclaimed that it was rather good.
You may notice that this new-wave-esque track has a bit of funky bass high up in the mix. Who is playing this? Well, this is Weller's old mate Bruce Foxton - which sees him reunited with Weller for the first time since 1983. This is short and slightly punky with odd jazzy piano bits, but Foxton's bass-lines makes this song sound like The Jam. HURRAH! Jam reunion?
Rated 4 out of 5
ROBYN - Hang With Me
Robyn Miriam is the best thing to come out of Sweden since the concept of white shoes and ties on black clothing. But she isn't a silly Iggy Pop-loving retro punk band, but a mini electro-pop workaholic who is releasing THREE albums in 2010.
It's a bittersweet song (which appeared as a sweet strings & piano ballad on her first album this year) about developing trust in a relationship, which works as both a peppy pop track and a ballad. Producer and long-time Robyn collaborator Klas hlund (and the song's writer) adds just the right amount of fizzing keyboards into the mix, but not too much to tie the track in with the bland Electro nonsense that has swept the UK.
Rated 3 out of 5
HARPER SIMON - Berkeley Girl
There has been a lot of artists that are the product of famous music seedy loins nowadays; like the spawn of Sting (I Blame Coco), Paul McCartney (James McCartney) and err...Keith Allen (Lily Allen). You can add another to the list; Paul Simon (Harper Simon).
This is right's out of daddy's school of song-writing, as this is soaked in strummed Simon & Garfunkel tweeness! It's no small tribute to write that Harper is every inch (although Paul Simon is only 5" 3) a decent songwriter capable of following in the tiny little footsteps of his famous old man.
Rated 3 out of 5
SHONTELLE - Impossible
ARRRGHHHHHHHHHH! This is a horrible power-ballad right out of the Whitney Houston "soppy tripe sung with a decent voice" school of song-writing.
The R&B power ballad genre died in 2001, so even Shontelle - who, to be fair, has got a cracking set of lungs on her - is barking up the wrong tree here if she is after a chart smash. She will have to wait a few years before this swings back into fashion. But judging by our previous chart predictions, then she has probably got a No.1 smash on her hands!
Rated 2 out of 5
MAROON 5 - Misery
After three years of wonderful non-Maroon 5 years, the b*stards finally decided to stop my pleasure and release a new single. The new single is aptly entitled Misery and will be part of their soon-to-be-released album Hands All Over.
You all know what Maroon 5 sound like and their three years away appears to have resulted in little growth, as this is a funky pop tune like every other BLOODY Maroon 5 song. Pure 100% misery that will be all over the Radio 2 and Heart FM playlists. However, we do really like the video and can fully sympathise with the female character in it. Sadly, she couldn't finish the job.
Rated1 out of 5
This Week's Music Single Reviews
By: Andrew Parker
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