FRUG! SINGLE REVIEWS
FUNGUS: Rebel (Food)
IT'S lovely to see young people enjoying themselves these days - stomping around their little nightclubs, affecting strained faces to the tunes of their day. Aaaah. "Rebel" is perfectly passable noise and comes with a suitably stacked-up spoonful of potential, without a shadow. But - while it's not completely without substance - it's all so much shriek and clatter and not a great deal else to my ears. It'll do until something better comes along - but will it be Fungus that brings along that "something better"? Let's hope so. **
VARIOUS ARTISTS: It's An Artrage! (Townhill)
THE much-coveted split EP format is to be applauded - as is the return of Jack-turned-Bluebird label, Townhill. Four tracks here. Parc Troli's HC-tastic "Pond" will get you running for your speed-ingrained Bad Religion LPs (which is not a bad thing, of course), Eskimo will have you wondering why Deceptive are keeping them such a closely-kept secret, and Junebug will just get you running and wondering. Toppest track of the EP, by some stretch, is the lilting and tortured-anthem "Welcome To Wilkie" from Newport's very own Giraffe. Let this little bastard seep into your pores, virus-like, and you'll be hooked. Believe it. ***
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE:
EMILIANA TORRINI: Baby Blue (One Little Indian)
BY the fifth or sixth date, if suitably clattered, I might confess in a roar that "My Suitor" by Belgian band Berntholer is the best song ever written, EVER. The only person on this planet who might share this view is Geoff Travis, who put the bloody thing out. Obviously, I don't get out much. Anyway - this is the closest I've heard to that sort of sultry, melancholic, controlled mayhem since that particular Euro non-smash entered my life back in '81 - 82? Think QC - Quiet Catatonia - and you're on target. ****
APOLLO FOUR FORTY: Heart Go Boom (Epic)
HUH? Whasgoingon? Freaky cyber-reggae spiffingness from one of the leaders of what is commonly an alien genre to me. I like the way this one kicks in like a crazy thang, and so will you. It's disposable, sure, but isn't all the good stuff? There's some crazy organ weaving in and out of this that is certain to delight, and if the killer chorus doesn't send you crashing to your knees in a falsetto powerchord, then - well - you're dead, I'm afraid. Check it out. ***
BIG LEAVES: Racing Birds (Whipcord)
CHEEKILY chirpy summery cheerfulness from Waunfawr's biggest export since the bottom fell out of the "pissed Welsh person" market. Speaking of which, though the slippery-when-hot title track is swoonful in excelsis (handclaps an' all), it's the ode to drunkenness that is "Getaway Day" which comes across as the superior of the three tracks on this CD. One day, Big Leaves will make an album that's every bit as good as Transformer or Nilsson Schmilsson. Won't be long now. ****