SINGLES ROUND-UP 2008:
PART ONE

A whole lot of 45s have come into my possession since I did my last singles round-up. Which is great news. Keep ‘em coming, world!

Not all of these were released in 2008, or even 2007, but all of them were puchased from shops or merch tables, or in some cases were even sent to me for review (for which thanks), during 2008, so they make the cut.

Let’s fire-up the turntable and get cracking!

Bad Reaction – Plastic World EP (Flat Black)

Yeah, I'll admit it, I mainly bought this one for the cover art. As it turns out though, it’s a cracking good bit of good-time hardcore (as opposed to the more prevalent strain of misery-guts hardcore), rather reminiscent of the Ramones circa ‘Too Tough To Die’ in it’s slower moments, moving toward generic drill sergeant style ‘core when it picks up speed. So: YEAH! ‘Hate My Job’ wins instant credit by starting with a lengthy sample from Repo Man (the scene where Otto gets sacked from the supermarket), and is almost my favourite tune here, beaten into second place by heartfelt relationship rant ‘The Truth’, which is startlingly good. I was pretty alarmed though to hear them launching into a chant of “Studying God’s words / fills me with the feeling / drink beers, stomp queers / dance with the heathens” on the song ‘Keep Your God Out Of My Peanut Butter’. Consulting the lyrics sheet, I learn the song is a Jello-esque sarcastic tirade against some breed of homophobic, Xtian mosh-pit invaders who have clearly been getting Bad Reaction’s goat, or something. So fair enough, but guys, if you’re gonna tour the world’s stages busting out stuff like that, you might want to make your intentions a little clearer lest people get the wrong end of the stick.

http://www.myspace.com/badreaction
http://www.myspace.com/flatblackrecords

Betty & The Werewolves – Euston Station (Damaged Goods)

The debut single from one of my favouritest new London bands, and it is a certified WINNER. A flat-out, romantic and furious punk-pop ode to tender moments and frustrating hold-ups in one of the capital’s less appealing transport hubs, perfectly executed with frantic racing-the-last-bus energy, a killer lead guitar hook and the kind of beautifully catchy harmony vocals that most bands these days just can’t be bothered to get right. Instant classic, and it’s great to finally have it pressed on a record so I don’t have to find their myspace again whenever I want to hear it. “I don’t want dinner and a movie / I just want something that’ll move me!” Too fucking right. B-side ‘Wind-Up’ is great too, taking a slightly choppier Elastica-y approach. SINGLE OF THE YEAR, no jive.

http://www.myspace.com/bettyandthewerewolves
http://www.damagedgoods.co.uk/

The Budget Girls – Get In Your Ear EP (Damaged Goods)

An unintentional glimpse at another side of the Damaged Goods catalogue of recorded hits, this one actually dates from 1996(!) according to the label on the disc, although I picked it up from All Ages Records in Camden just this weekend, so who knows/cares. Featuring two wanton women shrieking over competent backing from some garage rock boys, it’s a fair bet that Billy Childish knocked this one out when he had a spare weekend and couldn’t round up Thee Headcoatees. The a-capella ‘Go Away Geek’, on which they yell incoherent insults at some boy who wants them to play D&D and surf the net is an obvious highlight, as are the funny liner notes.

The Cat Burglars – Holy Shit EP (Tooth Decay)

Seven whole slabs of beer-fuelled punk rock mayhem of the best possible kind is what’s on the menu here, flipping the bird at any lamo scene designations and just kicking some ass: sloppy, loud, unpretentious and totally obnoxious, with real-time banter between songs suggesting they booked 30 minutes studio time and just laid it down in one go. Cuts like ‘I Hate My Job’ and ‘Your Girlfriend’s A Dumbass’ are pretty self-explanatory (wouldn’t it be great to find some punk band sang about enjoying their jobs for once?), but ‘S.P.’ is a little more unexpected; “Baby baby, you’re my kinda girl / you can really help me hate the world / even though we never met / I’m in love with you, Sylvia Plath!” Ha! You know what, I think I really dig these guys.

http://www.myspace.com/catburglars
http://www.myspace.com/toothdecayrecords

Congregation – Don’t Pay No Mind (Velo)

I won’t say too much about this one now, because I’m planning a review of Congregation’s album and don’t want to repeat myself, but needless to say, this is some vitally genuine, minimal electric blues right here – not ‘genuine’ in the sense of paying cack-handed homage to some never-existed traffic jam of blues cliché, but genuine in the sense that it’s music with guts and heart, wrought from exactly the elements it needs to hit your own personal spot, wherever you are in time & space, and not or note nor beat more. ‘Pay No Mind’ is a heavily rhythmic affair, foot-stomping rather than just tapping, with some slapback echo for a bit of a brooding rockabilly feeling, whilst Victoria Yeullet explains sagely that she and her fella had better learn to tolerate each other’s runnin’ around. The b-side, a cover of an r’n’b tune called ‘Building A Wall Around My Heart’, takes the fast guitar beat / sloooow vocal thing even further, to smouldering effect. Sounds just lovely and fuzzy and perfect spinning around on heavyweight vinyl too. Mmm.

http://www.myspace.com/congregationband
http://www.myspace.com/velovelovelo

Dead! Dead! Dead! – George Lassoes The Moon (Tough Love)

This optimistically named combo may tempt more jaded hacks to hurl ‘em into the recycling bin marked ‘angular’ with the opening riff on the a-side here, but for those with more than a ten second attention span, they proceed with enough vim and imagination to keep your ears thoroughly stimulated, though whether for good or ill is debatable. The vocalist’s theatrical delivery is plain ridiculous, splitting the difference between a Morrissey croon and an early Nick Cave bellow, and ending up somewhere not a million miles away from the guy from the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. And that’s perhaps quite a pertinent comparison for what’s going on here musically as well actually, if you were to turn down that band’s chaotic punk aspect and imagine them getting a bit more shiny, proggy and deliberate about things. Maybe I’ve just been listening to too much pop-punk recently, but the a-side here seems to go on for AGES, and has LOADS of different parts, each seemingly better than the last – first a “yeah, we can fucking PLAY” maths-rock breakdown, now a wistful goth-rock chorus/coda thing, some dramatic twin guitar rock-out…. If I say these guys sound like precocious a-level students trying to do first album era King Crimson, I hope they understand I mean that as a compliment.

http://www.toughloverecords.com/main.htm

Foxboro Hottubs – Mother Mary b/w She’s a Saint Not a Celebrity (Jingle Town)

So I picked this up at random cos it looks like a groovy garage-pop 7”, and heaven knows there’s always room for a few more of those in my life. And, praise be, it IS a groovy garage-pop 7”! The a-side has a preppy ‘Can’t Hurry Love’ backbeat, chiming guitars and tube-amp fizz, moody power-pop verses and pure bubblegum melodies, hand-claps, lalalas, oh-oh-ohs, the whole deal, whilst the b is a bit more punky with a Ramones steal, a rad solo and some ‘woo!’s. Two great songs, a swinging band and a great sounding recording – nothing new, but fuck ‘new’, this is a ton o’ fun.

Turns out though, I was the only person in the world unaware that Foxboro Hottubs are actually Green Day in disguise. Well, they sure played me for a sucker. I’ll stick to my guns though, and declare this the best thing they’ve done since their Lookout Records glory days. I guess it stands to reason that as these guys edge toward the far end of their 30s they might feel the need to escape their dayjob as clod-hopping stadium-fillers and regroup as a tight, retro-styled powerpop combo, but it speaks poorly of the world they exist within, not to mention the music industry’s general contempt for it’s audience, that as soon as they come up with some music that’s actually, like, GOOD, they’re forced to go incognito with it. Would it REALLY be that much of a stretch for the wallet-chained masses to accept some cool, three chord guitar-pop songs? Isn’t this basically what Green Day have always done best, only with a more pleasant guitar tone, less embarrassing lyrics and minus the rock star pomp? *sigh* Well, as they so frequently reminded me back when I was 15 and blasting ‘Dookie’, the world sucks.

http://www.myspace.com/foxboromusic
http://www.foxborohottubsdownload.com/

Liz Green – Bad Medicine (Humble Soul)

Trying to find something to write about Liz Green’s music seems almost surplus to requirements. I could tell you that I think she’s from Manchester, and I think this is her first record, and that she’s subsequently done another one, which I haven’t got yet. I suppose I should remind everybody that she plays original folk/blues in a gutsy, British style that bears distant comparison to Holly Golightly or Billy Childish, and that she sings in a gentle, forlorn style that can’t help but bring Karen Dalton to mind, even though she sounds entirely different.

Forget that though, all that matters here is the reality of two really good songs, played softly but surely with a rare strength of character that make wit, charm, humility, sadness, resilience, serenity all seem like bright, new, shining concepts, rather than tired hack words.

Basically, the name of Liz Green’s record label defines the essence of her work far more succinctly than any of my rambling ever could. So buy this from them, in its nice rough recycled cardboard sleeve, and, whilst you’re waiting for it to arrive, think upon those two words, and the implications of the perfect review they make.

http://www.myspace.com/lizgreenmusic
http://www.humblesoul.net/

Part Two to follow imminently!

Labels: Bad Reaction, Betty And The Werewolves, Congregation, Dead Dead Dead, Foxboro Hottubs, Liz Green, singles reviews, The Budget Girls, The Catburglars