Nick Smith falls for a girl with a scary disposition
Polly Scattergood: I Hate The Way – Single of the Week
Troubled and tousled female singer-songwriters are of course nothing new. Too many if anything.
But if you can separate the PJ Harvey from the KT Tunstall or the Tori Amos from the Lily Allen, then it’s well worth wading through the pools of dripped mascara and melted self-esteem.
Especially when you enter the dark, disorientated and often disturbing world of Polly Scattergood.
Her doctor tells her she’s got to sing a happy tune, she informs us – and the traces of Hazel O’Connor‘s Will You ensure she is more than capable of doing that.
Haunting yes. But frighteningly good.
Me My Head: The Damage Done
The annoying, tantrum-throwing younger brother of Elastica‘s Connection.
Charlie Moss‘s furious vocals are matched every inch of the way by the Lightfoot brothers’ incessantly catchy riffing. Every debut single should be this attention-grabbing.
Travis: Something, Anything
No strummy intros? No whimsical hats? No capos being pretentiously down to the seventh fret? Yes, Travis have finally found their electric guitars again!
Fran even allows Andy to play a riff and (gasp!) guitar solo – and Travis are all the better for it too.
Pink: So What
Yeah, we know you hate skinny blonde celebs and you’re really rebellious and you blow guys out all the time. Very clever.
But even by Pink‘s standards, this is pretty juvenile. All she cares about is making sure there’s enough predictably rousing power pop to keep the stadiums filling nicely.
Sigur Ros: Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur (With Me A Lunatc Sings)
Their atmospheric beauty is not compromised one bit by the wonderful chart-friendly melody on offer here.
Electrovamp: Drinks Taste Better When They’re Free
Which may be true, but you’ll be willing to pay full whack for any substance that can help blot out the memory of this disco-pop monstrosity.
Born Ruffians: Little Garcon
When your claim to ‘fame’ is being ‘only the second band ever (yes, EVER!!) to appear on Skins‘, expectations are low. This incoherent folky camp fire sing-a-long nonsense doesn’t disappoint.
It Hugs Back: Work Day
Nice enough. But then so is Robbie Earle and you wouldn’t want to listen to him for too long either.
Little Man Tate: Hey Little Sweetie
If Arctic Monkeys, for some reason, decided to do Henrietta by The Fratellis, the results would probably be about this horrific.
The Dodos: Fools
Wow! It gallops in on a great spaghetti western soundtrack-style intro but the actual song fails to live up to that early promise.
White Denim: Shake, Shake, Shake
A rock ‘n’ roll instrumental that might be useful for filling the track 11 slot on Jet‘s next album, but little else.
Micah P Hinson: We Won’t Have To Be Lonesome
It’s a wonder the troubled Texan isn’t pushed further into the abyss when he churns out watered-down country dirge like this.
Milosh: Remember The Good Things
Yes, I vaguely do, but when we’re done here let me listen to a decent record so I can jog my memory a bit.
