Singles Released 19 May 2008
Drowned in Sound
Going one step further than Leona, who 's just bleeding love, Martha's heart was actually made for bleeding all over the subject of her affection, kind of like a superpower then .."who will stop that subject of Martha's affection from going back to his wife" ..in bounds Bleeding Heart Girl .."I will with my wonderful bleeding heart" ...gush, splat ..yuck ..you get the picture!
The song has an odd but magical melody that may take a couple of listens to get your head around but once you do it really is quite beautiful with Martha's voice swirling in and out over the gentle acoustic backing.
Nick Foster
Nul
Following hot on the heels of the huge success of 'The Beginning of the Twist' (already pencilled in at the top of many pundit's singles of the year charts) is 'Radio Heart' and, good news, it sounds unmistakably Futureheads. While it's by no means the strongest song on their electrifying new album it calls upon the same simple, yet effective, pop forumula that gave Ash a string of top 10 hits. It's possibly the best radio-referring single since Teenage Fanclub's classic tribute and, yes, even better than Geordie 'rivals' PJ & Duncan's 'Our Radio Rocks'.
Richard Brown
Transgressive
'Turn Tail' finds the Young Knives less frantic, somewhat cerebral and turning in such pessimistic lyrics as 'We're all slaves on this ship / This ship's sinking / We will not reach the shore' over a contradictory, almost jolly, violin-soaked pop backing. One of the stronger tracks on 'Superabundance', it shows the Knives are far more than just 'fat blokes screaming barking mad lyrical couplets on stage' and that, despite the bands' well known defeatist attitude, tunesmithery of this standard should be ignored at your peril.
Richard Brown
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Sanctuary
Call me spoilt but I expect a little more from the first single in five years from Spiritualized. The vocals are unmistakably Jason Spaceman and there are flashes of the disjoint brilliance that made the likes of 'Lazer Guided Melodies' and 'Ladies and Gentlemen...' such essential albums. However, the chorus, especially the cheesy over-reliance on strings, stinks of ten year dead Verve carcass and stale Oasis-shaped cheese.
Richard Brown
Domino
Album title track ‘This Gift’ showcases Sons and Daughters rough and ready, folk-flavoured, indie-rock, much in the guise of bassist Ailidh Lennon’s husbands’ band Idlewild. ‘Ah-hoo’s’ decorate the sing-along chorus, whilst the guitar heavy raucous rolls by. Yet it’s an ever so slightly disappointing effort from a hotly-tipped band, albeit one that will inevitably cause explosions on the dance floor when they play it live.
Dave Allen
Lucky Number
Sebastien Tellier's latest 'Divine' is an eighties kitsch pastiche of electropop perversity complete with a rather needless Elton John type piano ballad breakdown. This is a fluffy pop oddity, that although pleasant enough, far from capitalises on the earlier promise of his absolute bona fide classic 'La Ritournelle'. Now if only he would have gone for the Steely Dan break instead?
Keith Haworth
Also Out This Week
Supergrass
'Rebel In You'
Manu Chao
'Politik Kills'
Late of the Pier
'Space And The Woods / Fokker'
Jay Reatard
'Painted Shut / An Ugly Death'
Jay Reatard
'See-Saw / Screaming Hand'
Hercules & Love Affair
'You Belong'
Booka Shade
'Charlotte'