Oooo - overspill from Singles Club in current issue. We got so tipsy. It was, like, whoah.

Thecocknbullkid, ‘On My Own Again’ (Need Now Future)
Kick: I’m not someone who abominates txtspeak, but i do hate compoundnameslikethis.
Louis: “The problem with you is/You’re still dancing like a kid”.
Ringo: What’s wrong with not growing up?
Kick: Itpissesheroff. Keepup.
Ringo: Umpa-pumpa bass, she’s hired the salvation army band, right?
Kick: She says pop shd be “black and tortured”. I quiiite liiiike this.
Robin: It needs something…
Louis: Maybe it needs a Sarah Nixey-style spoken word part. Where she admonishes us like a stern (sexy) matron.
Robin: Yes.
Ringo: Or playing at +4 (at least).

October - ‘Say Again’ (Perspectiv)
Kick: “Nobody listens to techno,” opined Eminem, and Germany was quietly cross.
Ringo: Super minimal, which normally I’d detest but as I’m being nice today I have to appreciate that at least they’ve found some interesting/odd sounds to play with.
Louis: Big washes of static coming in! Aaargh!
Robin: Not very similar to the Tricky record we reviewed earlier…
Ringo: Maybe Tricky needs to collaborate with these guys rather than some fretless bass wankstains.
Louis: This is interesting which would usually be a pejorative… but it’s kinda dislocated.
Kick: What it needs now = bagpipes (God, that wd be horrible).
Ringo: There’s no way I’d listen to this in a coupla thousand years, but I’d love to get to grips with this track and a Bun B acapella.
Kick: You smoke too much damn dope. YOU ARE YR OWN OPPRESSOR.
Louis: This is 2008 - your sampler can store more!
Ringo: Why should they sample more? You want them to be Diddyfied?
Kick: How many careers have you ruined, Mr. Dopeman? Yr contribution to art is NEGLIGABLE.

Metronomy, ‘Holiday’ (Because)
Kick: What I love about Metronomy’s latest = just how perfectly he hits the out-of-tune button.
Robin: This is 10x better than cocknbullkid.
Louis: RIDICULOUS singing.
Kick: They bend notes against their will.
Ringo: Take note Alexis from Hot Chip - this is what you do when you can’t sing, you warp the fuck out of your voice - anything to provoke a reaction.
Louis: No, Alexis is good because he genuinely thinks he can be Prince. Unaware of his limitations, thus exceeding them.
Kick: It’s like when you see pictures of people on holiday in the Seventies; you can’t imagine they can actually be having fun ’cause everything is so awful - but they are living pre-ironically, and wholly are!
Robin: The kind of music you’d make in your bedroom and never tell anyone - shamelessly ridiculous. All the elements are wrong but it kind of works.
Ringo: It’s why it works. Conformity kills creation.

Various Productions, ‘Meskman’
Louis: …these folks have great sleeves.
Kick: Aiming for PiL, attaining NIN.
Robin: Ugh - metal-step.
Ringo: Bore-step. Life is too short.
Louis: The vocal is horrible. This makes me think of UNKLE. At their worst.
Ringo: Do we need to write about this?
Kick: Yes - because I’m going to make it yr single of the month. You might get on the advert!

Those Dancing Days, ‘Run Run’ (Wichita)
Kick: For once, I am not giving them single of the month. Even if it’s ace.
Louis: Big, high-vaulting chorus.
Kick: But they’re usually kind of…jittery and minor key. This is balloon-lunged and…advert-sheeny.
Louis: I bet you’ll be weeping to it by yr sixth listen.
Robin: It’s got a wall of sound thing going on in the chorus, which i’m always attracted to.
Ringo: I prefer ‘99 Red Balloons’. She sounds like a pimp to me.
Louis: Everyone sounds like a pimp to you.
Ringo: I was trying to be positive!
Robin: Except for the over-compressed production.
Louis: They write songs that hook you slow but hook you good. Mind you, I’m not sure quite yet.
Kick: Their last single (’Hitten’) was sincerely incredible. They’ll re-release it.

Posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008by kicking_k