Dissection:Singles, Published in NARC. #18

Shy Child – Summer

It’s the noise of a mental scientist in a lab coat, running around his underground lair whilst the machine he created explodes around him. Sparks fly into the air, random cogs and gears whizz from the top of the machine and stick in the ceiling, wires loosen and start attacking like vipers, smoke engulfs the hodgepodge of disaster. Summer is the sound of electro chaos and pandemonium pop. They’ll get likened to Klaxons and called “new rave”, but don’t let that put you off. This deserves to be tearing up the dancefloors of our coked up kids across the country.

The White Stripes – You Don’t Know What Love Is

Where previous single, Icky Thump, nodded its head to metal, this new single is again deeply rooted in what went before. No matter how many times I listen to this song, it starts sounding more and more like Bad Company or The Eagles, with the little bridge before the chorus sounding too much like Dylan’s Quinn The Eskimo. It’s all very familiar anyhow - pounding drums from Meg, Jack does a little riff then a big chord, then another little riff and another big chord. Most will lap this up and get their lighters out; I’ll stick to the original records.

I Was A Cub Scout – Our Smallest Adventures

“Postal Service vs. Digital Ash-esque Oberst” seems to be the tag line that this band has given themselves. Actually reading the tag line is where the comparison ends for me. Although the vocal does slightly ape Oberst, the lyric certainly doesn’t benefit from Oberst’s wit and charm. As for Postal Service, well, I suppose both bands have the same amount of vowels in their names if you put the “The” in The Postal Service. This doesn’t do anything for me. Typical crap you’d get from a support band, whilst you stand and talk at the bar, waiting for the band you actually want to see to appear.

iLiKETRAiNS – The Deception

The band who like to write about historical people and events have a new single. Going off the lyrics, I think this one is about Nelson. It’s the regular sort of thing you’d expect from iLiKETRAiNS. When I was talking to somebody at work once, they said, “Is it ‘Gloomy Rock’ like Stereophonics?” about a band I was talking about. That might well be the best way to describe this band. So, more Gloomy Rock from a Post Rock band who are referred to as Library Rock. Depressing, pretentious shite is my best take on it. iDiSLiKETRAiNS.

The Orange Lights – Click Your Heels

This single will probably find its way onto the Radio 1 playlists. It’s the type of stuff that Embrace or Richard Ashcroft come out with. People who don’t like music will love it. I can’t stand it, personally. I’d love to get behind a Newcastle based band, but it’s not my cup of tea. It’s like Del Amitri doing The Seahorses, or a post-McCabe Verve singing Crowded House songs, that’s about it really. Very unimpressed. If this doesn’t hit the mainstream radio radar immediately, it will when it’s re-released in 9 months time.

SixNationState – We Could Be Happy

I could be happy as well, as long as shite bands like this stopped making records. This sounds like a crap local band trying to sound like The Smiths. They remind me of every local band across the UK, who think they’re already massive because of how many friends they can spam on MySpace and thinking they can change the world with their bulletins and slogan based T-shirts. This song makes me feel completely uninterested in being alive. We Could Be Happy bores me to tears. They Should Be Sorry.

It Hugs Back – Carefully

This is more like it. I was contemplating death a few minutes ago, but this has got me back on track to a long life of slowly going mental and losing control of my bowels. I like this a lot. These Kent based tinkers have a lovely warm American sound about them. It’s a bit like an I’m Wide Awake Bright Eyes or a Baby I’m Bored Dando. The song belongs in a small dustbowl town, where slackers meet up with a bunch of drugs to write songs in a barn full of hay on lazy summer nights. Think Wilco, or glorious lo-fi college rock that it’s cool to like. We have a winner.


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