WigWam
WigWam
Instant Karma
Of all the comebacks we weren’t expecting this year, WigWam (CDs) must outrank the Leo Sayer resurrection for shock value. Betty Boo – on a sabbatical from Planet Pop since 1992 – has hooked up with Alex James – the bassist from Blur who likes to wear a man skirt – for a nonsense-pop side-project. The ‘spray ate a generous slice of Wensleydale before bed last night, right? But, no, it really has happened: WigWam are here with a mirthful Dom Joly-directed video and a storming self-titled single. Its beat is bouncier than a rubber ball; it packs in more silly vocal effects than an episode of Doctor Who from 1973; and the ludicrous chorus (“Checking out my wigwam, wigwam, wigwam; checking out my boo, boo, boo…”) is catchier than Chlamydia in Kings Cross. Who’d have thought that, in 2006, Betty Boo would be back and Doin’ The Do with more aplomb than a repressed sexagenarian who’s just discovered the joys of sitting on her Hotpoint during the spin cycle?
More! More! More singles reviews from Gnarls Barkley,
Mary J. Blige and U2,
Franz Ferdinand, Mary Jane, Michael Jackson and Deep Dish featuring Stevie Nicks after the blimmin’ jump…
Gnarls Barkley
Crazy
Wea
Gnarls Barkley (CDs)? Sounds like a colloquial term for arthritis from
medieval times, doesn’t it? But it’s actually a collaboration between
Danger Mouse, the producer behind Gorillaz‘ excellent Demon Days album,
and Cee-Lo, an American R&B star who’s worked with Timbaland but
never quite made it to
Videos-With-Yachts-And-Cristal-And-Scantily-Clad-Laydeez status. Jo
Whiley and Scott Mills have been over-enthusing about Crazy – their
debut single – on Radio 1 recently, and it’s already topping the singles
chart on download sales alone. This would normally be enough to make
the ‘spray rip off our headphones in knee-buckling terror – Orson,
anyone? – but this tune can certainly withstand the hype. Its
combination of a deep, sultry bass line and some gorgeous strings are
reminiscent of Massive Attack and Portishead, and Cee-Lo’s stunning
vocals push it towards the transcendental territory that Unfinished
Sympathy once mined. Forget Corinne Bailey Rae; this is what real soul
music sounds like in 2006.
Mary J. Blige and U2
One
Island
On which the reigning Queen of Soul (CDs) and George Bush‘s favourite
Irishman trade “woah woahs” on a new version of U2’s ‘classic’ 1992
single. There’s no denying the power of Blige’s voice, or indeed the
Capital FM tastefulness of this new recording, but the moment where
Bono proclaims “Mary!” as if to pass the torch of One to Blige would
make even Anna Wintour‘s hair curl. But what’s that I hear you shriek,
dear ‘spraylets? Surely this cl-abberation is partially redeemed by
being in aid of A Natural Disaster/Ver Kidz/Giving Sumfink Back? Nope.
It’s about as charitable as a put-down from Pete Burns. Mary: please go
back to releasing irresistible hip-hop soul singles like I’m Goin’ Down
and Family Affair. And Bono? Well, there’s a world out there that needs
you. NOW.
Franz Ferdinand
The Fallen
Domino
It’s hard work being hip. Just when you think you’ve earned the right
to strut round Camden in your skinny jeans like cock of the walk –
you’ve scored enough column inches to put Victoria Beckham out of a
job, become darlings of the NME, and released a multi-platinum debut
album, after all – some younger, more achingly now band come along to
steal your hard-earned thunder. The Fallen is the third single from the
Franz Ferdinand’s (CDs) You Could Have It So Much Better album, and it
showcases a beefier, harder-rockin’ sound from the Glasgow art-poppers.
The riffs are powerful and insistent; the backing vocals are catchy;
and there’s even of bevy of biblical references to let us know that
Franz Ferdinand are, y’know, all brainy and stuff. It’s a decent
single, but is it enough to remind us, in 2006: The Year Of The
Monkeys, just what Franz Ferdinand meant to us back in 2004?
Mary-Jane
What I Came Here For (EP)
Timeless Music Project
Mary-Jane (CDs) are the scariest thing to come out of Huddersfield since that terrifying latex nurse lass from last year’s Big Brother. Unlike the BB girl, though, Mary-Jane aren’t scary because they equate having giant mis-shapen breasts with being marginally attractive, but because they’re so angry all the time. The What I Came Here For EP is a ferocious animal. It’s ostensibly a delve into the darker side of singer Teri Flynn‘s past relationships, but we’d have to take her word for it, because she’s so flipping angry about it that her diction has gone to pot. The seven songs on What I Came Here For are just a widdly-wee guitar solo away from Biker Mice From Mars territory, but are all the better for sticking to the bare bones of the songs. It’s early days yet, but with Courtney Love still currently orbiting the moon, Mary-Jane might just be able to fill the gap she’s left.
Michael Jackson
Dirty Diana
Sony BMG
We’re now six weeks into the Michael Jackson (CDs) Visionary campaign and the
one-time King of Pop still hasn’t cracked the top ten. The guys at Sony
BMG need to be asking some serious questions, and the ‘spray is here to
help them out. Why are the Visionary singles so expensive? Why would a
CD single with a video on its flip side impress us when we’ve got
broadband at home and a life-ruining YouTube habit to maintain? And,
most worryingly, why are slightly iffy Jacko singles now being
reissued? Dirty Diana is a case in point: this paranoid paean to a girl
who “likes the boys in the band” suffers from dated beats – like all
Bad-era material, it wasn’t even cutting edge back in the day – and a
rather misogynistic lyric. Not that this will prevent it from scaling
the giddy heights of, ooh, number sixteen at least.
Deep Dish featuring Stevie Nicks
Dreams
EMI UK
Laydeez and Gentz, a pop history lesson: Dreams was an American number
one hit for those Legends Of Soft Rock, Fleetwood Mac, back in 1975.
We’re never quite sure about these things here at hecklerspray, but
Fleetwood Mac’s incredible success seems to have been based upon both
Mums and Dads being able to stand listening to them for hours on end
during long car journeys. Then in 1998 The Corrs, as is their wont,
sucked the life out of the tune and turned it into the perfect backing
track for mooching round Bluewater. And now Stevie Nicks – the song’s
writer, lest we forget – has recorded a new vocal for a Dreams remix
from Chicago’s Deep Dish (CDs) dance duo. Who? You know the dudes: they
stormed the hit parade with an ingenious reworking of the theme from
Flashdance a couple of years ago. Phew! Back to the remix, which is
about as appealing as a hen weekend in Riga organised by Kerry Katona,
right? But – shock-o-rama! – it’s actually a bit of a revelation. The
throbbing beat and intermittent Pet Shop Boys-esque thumps are sure to
sound fantastic after a few Sambucas at 3 AM. And Nicks’ voice- now
akin to the sound of a bleating goat after years of sniffing what the
‘spray’s grandmother calls “Kate Moss’ Naughty Dust”– is utterly
compelling in full-on dance diva mode. Old dog, new tricks? Piece of
cake.
Dreams is available on iTunes now. Never let it be said that we don’t
have our finger on the pulse of popular culture, which, apparently, is
a throbbing blood vessel located somewhere in Chantelle Houghton’s
armpit.
[reviews by Nick Levine]