JJ72: JJ72(Lakota)
When this Irish trio appeared on Top Of The Pops last week, performing their hit single, Oxygen, Mark Greaney's tonsil-ripping howl must have shaken many an ornament off its perch atop the nation's telly sets, and made many a sensitive-eared parent reach for the remote. If that doesn't qualify JJ72 as the sound of teenage angst in 2000, then this debut album will do the job nicely. The opening track, October Swimmer, goes around in circles a bit, but Undercover Angel and Willow spiral gracefully towards heaven, helped by Greaney's angelic wail and a sky-scraping string section. Surrender and Long Way South are like Placebo with heart and soul - and melody; Snow is a blizzard of riffs and roars, while Algeria emulates Ash's penchant for snappy popcore. Us oldies can find plenty of flaws in this debut, but for pop kids in search of a throaty voice to scream on their behalf, you can't fault it.
Roxy Music: The Early Years (Virgin)
You could also call this compilation "The Best Years", because it spans the band's initial two-year burst of creativity, which spawned the self-titled debut album, its follow-up, For Your Pleasure, and the third album, Stranded, all three undisputed classics of 1970s pop-rock. Roxy Music wore platforms, spangly suits and glitter-strewn quiffs, but they were a massive cut above the Sweets, Muds and Glitter Bands of the day. With Bryan Ferry's prog-cabaret voice, Eno's electronic treatments, Phil Manzanera's flitting guitar and Andy McKay's avant-jazz sax, Roxy Music created a heady hybrid of rock, pop, doo-wop and easy listening, resulting in uniquely classic tracks such as Re-make/Re-mod- el, Ladytron, 2HB, Do The Strand, Virginia Plain, Pyjamarama, Beauty Queen, Editions Of You, Street Life, A Song For Europe and Mother Of Pearl, all of which are here in all their gold lame glory. Form a band, buy this album, and be influenced by it.
