Sugababes
Red Dress
Universal Island Records
Here at the ‘spray we’ve shed a river of tears; we’ve sworn profusely at unsympathetic family members; we’ve even thrown Great Aunt Sally‘s ashes against the wall in a fit of blind, unrelenting fury. But enough is enough: it’s time to move on. Mutya has left the Sugababes (CDs) and she ain’t coming back any time soon. As if to ram the point home, Red Dress, the third single from the ‘Babes’ Taller In More Ways album, now features vocals from new member Amelle. But with cruelty, comes beauty. And Red Dress is a gen-you-ine tits-out-on-page-three stunna. Well, who could resist Heidi, Keisha and, yes, even Amelle cooing that they’ll “turn to candlelight to make us stay over” whilst producers Xenomania throw a storming beat, hints of ska and a few trademark “thump-thumps” into the mix? Sugababes are the classiest pop group we’ve got at the moment, and hecklerspray salutes them accordingly. Whoever they’ve got in the line-up this week.
You want more singles reviews, you grasping vultures? Reviews of The Modern, Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Camera, Shapeshifters and Placebo after the jump…
The Modern
Industry
Mercury Records
South London’s The Modern (CDs) wear their eighties electro-pop influences
firmly on their polka dot, puffball sleeves. Industry comprises
intertwining male/female vocals (how Human League), big fuzzy guitars
(très Depeche Mode, don’t you know) and intermittent tiddly-bonk
keyboard riffs (more than a bit Erasure, if we’re honest). And – dig out
your Rubik’s Cube! – singers Emma Cooke and Chi-Tudor Hart trade lines
like “You could be my industry; we’ll dance together on the factory
floor,” which reek of Sheffield circa 1980. It gets more Jane Fonda’s
New Workout still, as Hart sounds like a mutant hybrid of Simon Le Bon
and Phil Oakey. Cynics might say that Industry is a pastiche-ridden
attempt to jump on the synthpop revival bandwagon (Killers, anyone?),
but here at the ‘spray we like to cut through all that muso-rockist
gubbins. Industry‘s stonking great chorus won us over the first time we
heard it.
Michael Jackson
Billie Jean
Sony BMG
So far the Michael Jackson (CDs) reissue campaign hasn’t been quite as
earth-shattering as its “Visionary” moniker would seek to attest (Don’t
Stop ‘til You Get Enough, no.17; Rock With You, no.15). It’s not hard
to fathom why (unless you work for a record company, of course). Anyone
who could possibly want the classic Jacko tunes already has them on
HIStory. Or Number Ones. Or The Ultimate Collection. Or The Essential
Michael Jackson. (The last three of these have all been released since
November 2003, cash-cow spotters). And, as transcendent as his early
promos are, it’s much more fun to watch them back-to-back on one of his
numerous video anthologies than having to test your DVD player’s ‘eject’ button every three-and-a-half minutes by playing the Visionary
singles. Ultimately, of course, it’s all about the music, and Billie
Jean – this week’s reissue – is a masterpiece. The thrill of hearing
Jacko shriek “Jet is not my son…woooh!” over Quincy Jones‘ liquid disco
production hasn’t diminished at all in the 25 years since it
was recorded; the only difference is that, nowadays, we’re more
inclined to believe him.
Kanye West
Touch The Sky
Roc-A-Fella Records
Life’s pretty sweet for Kanye West (CDs) at the moment. He’s just won three
Grammys and a Brit Award; his world tour’s been lavished with obscene
levels of critical acclaim; and his album was the biggest seller in the
world last year. Right now, he’s making Condoleeza Rice – 4.30am gym
routines notwithstanding- look like an underachiever. But Touch The
Sky, the fourth single from his Late Registration opus, isn’t West at
his most innovative and spellbinding; its reliance on a rather obvious
sample from Curtis Mayfield‘s Move On Up makes it feel a bit too
ordinary for a single from the Modern Day Untouchable. That’s not to
say it doesn’t make us want to strut around ‘spray towers like we’re
the King of the whole goddamn world, as all good Kanye tunes should.
But touch the sky? Only 14-year-old boys mesmerised by Pamela
Anderson‘s cavorting cameo in the video will get that much of a kick
out of it.
Camera
Out On The Water
My Kung Fu
Camera are a band we know literally nothing about. One of their singles was the Phil Jupitus Single Of The Week a while ago, but we get the impression that if we plugged a lemon meringue pie hard enough, that’d be made into the Phil Jupitus Single Of The Week, too. However, this time the hype seems mostly valid. Musically, Out On The Water treads a slightly less bland road than Travis, which isn’t necessarily a good thing, but b-side Long Enough rescues the whole affair by sweeping in from nowhere and showing a breadth of ambition that we weren’t expecting at all. One to wait for the album, then.
Shapeshifters
Incredible
Positiva Records
According to the ‘spray’s dog-eared, well-thumbed dictionary, a
shapeshifter is a “change in the form or shape of a person, especially
a change from human form to animal or vice versa.” A group called Shapeshifters (CDs) should, we reason, be blessed with an uncanny ability
to switch musical genres, not to mention a knack for keeping
contemporary to make David Bowie grind down his veneers in jealousy. So
why do all Shapeshifters singles sound like pale imitations of Lola’s
Theme, the group’s smash hit from last summer? Incredible isn’t
hopeless, but its tasteful disco stylings are as far from innovation as
ITV’s Saturday night entertainment commissioning team. And its
unfailingly upbeat lyric and cod flamenco guitar would work a lot
better if hecklerspray were listening to it whilst sipping Sangria on the
Costa Brava in August. So there we have it: Incredible manages to sound
both dated and about six months before its time. Quite an achievement,
really.
Placebo
Because I Want You
Virgin
It’s hard to believe but Placebo (CDs) have been with us for ten years now.
Many less sturdy cultural phenomena have disappeared in that time –
Britpop, the Spice Girls, Anthea Turner – but Britain’s finest glam-goth
band are wailing on regardless. Because I Want You, the first single
from the ‘Bo’s upcoming Meds album, has all the usual ingredients:
angsty lyrics (and angstier vocals), buzzy, thrashing guitars and an
insistent drum beat. The chorus is pretty strong to boot. Trouble is,
it’s hard to care about Brian Molko and his band of not so merry men
when they’ve got prettier goths on Coronation Street these days.
[reviews by Nick Levine]