New Releases 17th October 2005

Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

PB: Hold onto your hats kids, here comes the Next Big Thing. The indie anthem of the winter/year is here and no hip party, pre-gig set or Christmas do will be without it. To be fair, the Arctic Monkeys do deserve to be big. And it’s not beyond their ability to not only become big but become gargantuan.
With lyrics you can’t not love, “Pop like a robot from 1984” particularly, and a guitar hook that you can’t get out of your head, and that thrashing drum thing near the end, this song puts the rest of the indie world to shame a bit and has raised the bar for other to follow.

IG: The new single from the new indie band for 2006. I’m convinced these guys have got something about them. The hook certainly has a special something. The indie community will clearly embrace it as it’s the perfect song to bounce around to in any direction to at gigs and in indie clubs. The lyrics are cool and kitsch and it is generally all very indie. We are sure to hear ramblings fawning over them in the NME over the next few months. Definitely a band to watch.

Dannii Minogue - Perfection

IG: G-A-Y bliss from the Australian starlet. Definitely showing that she’s not just Kylie’s sister. This track has clear summer vibes so perhaps it should’ve been released earlier but it does cheer you up instantly (and strangely makes me want to jump into a pool) and is ideal in these dreary autumn months. A master stroke from the sister who was earlier ignored and referred to as “the other minogue.” Kylie had better watch out.

PB: Dannii represents pop this week and becomes pop princess in her sister’s absence. Although, if she’s just going to keep releasing slightly above-average regurgitated dance records and calling them pop, she had better not get to used to the pop crown.
In typical dance stylee, the chorus makes you want to throw your hands in the air and the lyrics don’t really seem to make any sense, but that’s OK because everyone’s too busy dancing to listen to what Dannii is actually saying.
It’s difficult to review Dannii (that’s my excuse anyway) because everything could be said already has: the comparisons to Kylie, the saviour of gay dance music crown, the pink pound’s sole survivor in the destructive tsunami of i-Tunes, the ‘this single really could make Dannii huge’ and ‘could this be her first number one?’ comments. So I won’t say anything more.

Lovebites - You Broke My Heart

PB: Jumping on the Busted bandwagon slightly less-offensively than Noise Next Door and The Faders, before it finally rolls off into the distance, are the Lovebites. I won’t tire you with Busted comparisons because, quite frankly, they are kind of exhausted already.
But! If you try hard enough (and you don’t have to try that hard) then you can easily sing ‘What I Go To School For’ over this. Go on, try. In fairness, it’s not a bad pop punk song, but we all knew that already, because we already made it #3 in September 2002.

IG: Girl power? No. This is the crucial first single from the second attempt at a girl Busted. The first being The Faders and we all know how that turned out. Which is a shame because I actually liked “No Sleep Tonight” more. Just noisy girls and rubbish lyrics for me I’m afraid. My earlier reference to “girl power” would be the fact that the whole song is based around the fact they’re going to beat up their boyfriend for cheating on them. The only redeeming feature of the track is that the chanty bits remind me of some early “Kenickie” but that is all. Thankfully, there isn’t really a chance of them sticking around as the market they are going for need to guys to fancy to go with the pop-punk and Lovebites just don’t deliver.

Tiga ft. Jake Shears – You Gonna Want Me

IG: Repetitive catchy lyrics and killer bass for the clubs. This will definitely not be a mainstream hit for underground Tiga but his little glimmer of hope comes in the form of Scissor Sisters vocalist Jake Shears singing the main hook of the song. Electro dance built to take over the clubs at it’s finest.

PB: This song should be brilliant. Afterall not only is it by Tiga, who featured on Richard X’s album, but it features Jake Shears who’s only the lead singer the biggest band in the world.
It is annoying then, that this song turns out to be a little bit average. The vocals on the chorus from Jake are far from his best and sound very half-hearted and the song itself seems to trudge along aimlessly with a beat in the background that isn’t half as gay or half as brilliant as it should be. I do like the hand claps though.

McFly - I Wanna Hold You

PB: Since when did McFly become Busted. Here McFly give us a song that sounds more like something that should’ve been on second Busted album than anything on the second Busted album.
Where is that opening guitar bit from? I recognise it. Maybe it was from the last single because I can’t really tell them apart (although that may say more about me than it does about McFly).
This song is dripping in sentiment and loveliness, but is not sickly sweet because of the heavy guitars all over the song, which I make me want to shuffle around a bit, not dance – shuffle!
Fearne Cotton should love this. If she doesn’t, she is a fool because this is just what she’s been telling us she likes for however long it’s been that she’s been presenting TOTP.

IG: Tween pop-rock for those rebellious 11 year olds who turn up their noses at Rachel Stevens. But McFly can appeal to all ages with their friendly rock-fuelled catchy pop songs. The boys are certainly talented and have something different to offer pop and are refreshing the charts with the happy, laid-back pop dittys. hey are also the only offering out there that have been able to interest the mourning Busted fans properly and have taken the pop-rock crown from Matt, Charlie and James. Mainly because all other offerings from other imitators have been ridiculously bad but also because McFly, and this track, are good. The surf rock guitar and Danny’s uber-cool vocals (I’ve always preferred Danny’s rough voice to Tom’s singing voice so am glad that he is singing the verses on this track) are stuck in your head within one listen. Great track.

Best & Worst?
IG: Best - McFly, Worst - Lovebites
PB: Best - Arctic Monkeys, Worst - Tiga