Latest releases reviewed
PET SHOP BOYS Fundamental EMI ****
It's quite likely that the "kids" won't appreciate the latest album from Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe; it is, by the greying gentlemens' own admission, something of a return to the glory days of Pet Shop Boys, which means non-perspiring beats, svelte rhythms, perfectly pronounced vowels and lyrics of introspection and deep meaning. Well, if the kids aren't alright about Fundamental, then it's a safe bet that the adults are. In other words, this is a wholly satisfying and refined blend of pop, dance and synth-driven tunes that reaches the head probably far quicker than the feet. Standout tracks include I Made My Excuses and Left (cuckolded gay chap girds his emotional loins and carries on regardless), Luna Park (the best pop ballad this year?), Casanova in Hell (romance is purgatory, the calm before the storm) and Indefinite Leave to Remain (simply gorgeous). Fundamental? From tip to toe, excellent pop.
Tony Clayton-Lea
HOT CHIP The Warning EMI ****
Despite the cut of their very electronic jib, Hot Chip's addictive kitsch, glitchy pop doesn't come from computers. Using vintage synths, guitars and percussive bits and bobs, there's a quaint retroism to this. Sure, it wears its revisionism like a button badge, and umpteen influences - Daft Punk, Belle and Sebastian, Air - are sandwiched into 12 varied tracks. Dirty funk squelches (Arrest Me), faux r'n'b (Tchaparian) and the wavering synth'n'grind of Over and Over suggest tongue-in-cheek campness. They've been likened to a sedate LCD Soundsystem, attempting the same lyrical wisecracking, but throughout there's something else going on. Maybe it's Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard's assured harmonies, or the warm flourishes that break up the bontempi beats, but the odd flaw aside, it's all a bit special. www.hotchip.co.uk
Sinéad Gleeson
VARIOUS Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 V2 ***
This is the album soundtrack to last year's acclaimed but overlooked book of the same name by Simon Reynolds (an enlightening read, by the way). The dates give the game away: this is a selection of the finest cuts from when punk was reshaped first into new wave and then into that catch-all category of "post-punk". Reynolds himself compiled this, and he has acted judiciously. Aside from the well-known names (Devo, Siouxsie, Human League, The Specials), there's also a welcome reminder of some really undervalued bands from that time, and how good it is to hear the likes of Josef K and Young Marble Giants again. And there's extra bonus points here for including John Cooper Clarke's still awesome Beasley Street. You can argue among yourselves as to whether Robert Wyatt merited his inclusion.
Brian Boyd
FINAL FANTASY He Poos Clouds Tomlab ***
Long a string-man for hire on some of the more interesting Canadian music ventures, Owen Pallett's Final Fantasy vision seems to have really only found its own momentum since he stopped whoring himself around. While his debut, Has a Good Home, had a number of chamber-pop nuggets to sigh over, He Poos Clouds demonstrates the more ambitious and deft approach that Pallett has taken to crafting his engaging, high-brow pop. A chamber ensemble provides the sure-footed terrain for Pallett's arch, character-led meditations on life and death. There's an interesting battle being pitched lyrically throughout between hope and despair, which might put some in mind of Antony Hegarty's last album. Yet, as Pallett casts classical and pop styles into close proximity, it's the grand and formidable musical setting that sets a cracking, crisp pace. www.finalfantasyeternal.com
Jim Carroll
FORWARD, RUSSIA! Give Me a Wall Dance to the Radio***
You'd be forgiven for writing off this Leeds avant-punk quartet as being far too clever for their boots. The clunky, quasi-Franz logo, the awkward positioning of exclamation marks, and the use of numbers instead of song titles all point to a band that could easily be all slogan, no feeling. But, right from the spiralling synths of opening track Thirteen, it's apparent that there's more to this lot than number-crunching and punchy punctuation. Songs such as Eleven, Fifteen Pts 1 & 2, Nine and Twelve are filled with arresting, inventive guitar riffs and sudden, exhilarating twists and turns, suggesting a sharply focused Futureheads or a popped-out Pere Ubu. The wall of electronic sound is splattered with frantic yelps from singer Whiskas, and the constantly changing pace is kept coherent by the thundering drums of Whiskas's sister Katie. If Test Icicles' confused cacophony left you cold, then Forward, Russia! may have just the ice-pick edge to break into your senses. www.forwardrussia.com
Kevin Courtney
