M.I.A. – Paper Planes

Sampling The Clash’s “Straight From Hell”, M.I.A. continues where The Clash left off with themes of racism and problems of discrimination that immigrants face. Paper Planes lays out a saccharin diatribe at the doorstep of the USA, with references to the fact that the USA wouldn’t allow her in to the country to work with Timbaland, due to her alleged connections with a Sri Lankan militant group. The single has already had several different versions and remixes released this year, but this is the definitive commercial radio airplay version. The chorus features the sounds of gunshots and the “Kerching!” of cash registers, backed up by a choir of Brixton school kids chanting that they want to “take your money”, ironically taking a pop at the authorities. The song basically plays upon the paranoia created by the USA and the UK in which all citizens should treat every immigrant with suspicion and contempt. Regardless of her past, the meaning of the lyrics and any alleged connections she has to any terrorist/militant groups, the song has now become a pastiche of what was originally intended. Punk in spirit, Pink in delivery.


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

Sia – Soon We’ll Be Found

There was a time when a female with a lethargic vocal delivery was quite sexy, but in these post-Winehouse days, it just tends to stop being sexy and start sounding as if the singer is pissed, or out of their heads on scag. Sia’s vocal starts off as lethargic, but then moves on to a mighty slur, like an octogenarian sitting by himself, mortal drunk, musing about his days of sex and hedonism through the haze of ten pints of Scotch. The Sex And The City generation of females may well take time out from buying shoes and handbags to weep salty puddles to this song, as it blares out from their status symbol stereos and they look back upon the greatest love that they lost. It’s that type of song, you know? The type that closes a romantic comedy starring the latest teenage star destined to be photographed knickerless whilst leaving a Limo. The type of song that 18-19 year old girls have on their MySpace profile. The type who have the obligatory profile picture of the pouting mirror shot, of one hand on the side, and the other hand desperately clutching the mobile phone which encapsulates the desperation of the reflection. On further inspection she’ll have wrote things on her profile like “life’s a journey, not a destination” and her friends will have posted messages saying “dnt wory bout him, he a dick, ya can do beta than him” and “u deserv beta babie girl” as she moves off from the first of many points in her life when her heart will be broken. It’s one of them, it may well have a lot of truth, honesty and passion, but when you get to such a point in your life when all you have left is bitterness and cynicism, it tends not to cut the mustard. Instead, it leaves you agitated and exasperated. By now we’ve all had our fair share of female fronted piano ballads giving way to strings, big emotional key changes and climaxes, the formula is a little tired now and love songs just aren’t my bag.


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

The Breeders – Bang On

Recently Weezer produced one of my favourite drum sounds of the year, but now The Breeders, with Steve Albini at the controls rotating the knobs, have managed to surpass it.

Bang On is a lo-fi sugar rush with a rhythm section made from a thumping drum, and a bass guitar seemingly being pounded through a tired out 80s speaker which is just about to fall to bits. This unassuming affair by our favourite ever changing line up is a discreet two minute skeleton of a song, stripped right down to the bare bones, sending out the rallying cry of a pre-pubescent apathetic voice with “I love no-one and no-one loves me”. It’s a bit like a juvenile My Sharona, except with only an occasional guitar twang, and a bit of guitar twiddling that sounds like a swarm of bees coming to capture you for their queen. Great work from Kim and co.


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

Biffy Clyro – Mountains

Metaphorical nonsense is the order of the day in this one-off single from Biffy Clyro. The song has been receiving a large amount of airplay recently as it seems that they’re now experiencing the full power and marketing skills of a major label, taking their music to the masses. As would be expected from a band that has been working with a major record label, the band now have an expensively produced sound to their new single, they’ve even incorporated a piano throughout the song. Without using the phrases “selling out”, or “commercial shite”, it’s probably quite reasonable to say that they've totally lost their edge and have started to sound like Feeder. Although they get props for the production, for the melody and for the hooks, their point score goes into negative figures with some truly dire lyrics. As mentioned above, metaphor overload is on the menu. Simon Neil is the mountains and the sea, he starts off by taking “a bite out of a mountain range, thought my teeth would break the mountains down”, and he also writes a note to the jungle (?!?), with the jungles response being, “it wrote me back that I was never crowned king of the jungle, so there’s and end to my horizon”. Seriously, is there any need for such ghastly lyrics? And so it continues, with more lyrical cliché with, “Nothing lasts forever, except you and me. You are my mountains, you are my sea”. I’ve never been so offended by something like this in such a long time. As Biffy Clyro undoubtedly gain hoards of new fans from drab office environments tuning into commercial radio up and down the country, I can’t help but cringe when I see Margaret the 43 year old admin dullard singing along to “I am a mountain, I am the sea”. Biffy Clyro could well be the next Stereophonics, and that is certainly no good thing.


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

The Music – The Spike

The Music’s second single from their Strength In Numbers album continues along the same sort of “also ran” trajectory that The Music have adopted since their first album, which seems like a lifetime ago. The Spike is a decent enough song, even if it does trudge through the same godforsaken territory of Kasabian through the verses, only to be uplifted with a “let’s get off our tits” chorus in the usual adolescent and juvenile groove you’d expect from The Music. But that’s the whole point; it’s six years since they released their baggy dance rocking self titled debut, and they haven’t really come much further since then. If adding a little bit of electronica into the mix is a gauge of maturity, then fair play, but in truth they haven’t seemed to progress any further than exactly what you’d expect from The Music. As lead singer Harvey recounts the dark days off his past drug use you’d think he’d be better off just telling it all to his sponsor, the notion of rockstar heroes writing anthems about the pro’s and con’s of drug abuse seem a little blasé to me nowadays. Although for the most part this single is as predictable and conventional as a film about basketball where the protagonists need to score with one second left on the clock, it’s for its sins still bearable. There’s a lot worse out there, but it’s hardly neither groundbreaking nor inspiring.


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

Eugene McGuinness - Eugene McGuinness

I was praying that this album wouldn’t be another middle of the road James Morrison type, but Mr McGuinness couldn’t be any further removed from the dull tones of Blunt, Morrison and those of that ilk. This self titled album from the Liverpool youngster marks new territory for the singer songwriter genre, with experimental arrangements akin to the great Brian Wilson and dozens of different ideas flying off the walls in each song. Following on from last year’s Early Learning Of Eugene McGuinness EP, McGuinness takes giant strides into cementing his place amongst great new British talent.

The album represents a fantastic storytelling Vaudevillian journey through modern day streets and fun fairs, with creepy organs from ghost trains to blistering rockabilly, skiffle and rampant folk. McGuinness is a bit like Patrick Wolf with a personality transplant and with lyrical wit increased by ten. His social banter forms the basis of the album with Crown The Crown’s “from Romford to Iraq, and I can spot a hell of a lot of stars on McDonalds caps” and even moments of self deprecation with “I’m a fucked up bastard and a sub zero psycho” in the violin led Wendy Wonders.

As far as debut albums go, this is by far one of the best I’ve heard in many years and shows much promise for the future of music in this country.

5/5


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins

The Stand Ins follows on from last years The Stage Names as a continuation of the themes of fame, fortune and celebrity. The artwork from this latest album actually joins up with the artwork of The Stage Names to show one larger piece of art. Where The Stage Names concentrated on the stars of the shows, The Stand Ins spares a thought for the also-rans and those who fell by the wayside with a certain amount of pathos, including the suicide of a porn star (Starry Stairs) and the tragedy of a glam rock star dying of AIDS (Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979).

Singer Songwriter focuses on the life of a person whose whole family is involved in show business and shows the fallacies and fraudulent side of fame, whilst the grim and lonely On Tour With Zykos wallows in a brooding loss of hope. Pop Lie is a more upbeat song, with a tongue-in-cheek look at musicians and the pretence of songwriters thinking that they can change the world with their songs.

Throughout, Will Sheff and his Okkervil band mates, produce a dark and bitter perspective on the other side of stardom, for those who tried to make it and failed and for those who had it all and lost it. This is a superb album which will garner even larger crowds for this band.

4.5/5


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.