REVIEW MUSIC
V ALBUMS
I Kingmalter: EatYourselt Whole (Chrysalis) As anyone who has viewed the seminal (.‘liffflick li’ondefl’ul Life will tell you. it takes youth and experience to get a show really rolling. For some confounding reason. Kingmaker seem to possess both in equal measure. This album is not the raw celebration of adolescence you‘d expect from a bunch of ‘ enthusiastic pups. although often their more ‘ charged moments (at good - htlpercent)appeartohe ; simplythrowingthe ' passionate rock manual at the wall in the hope that somethingwillstick. However. singer Loz has a worldly-wise aspect to his angst and Kingmaker can be almost sophisticated when they want to— a good sign that when the time comes for them to be filling arenas. the novice's apprehension will be non-existent. (Fiona Shepherd)
compositions. and in determining the attractive musical mixture. Travis and 53mm" 3‘9"“ KC"le probably too laid-back to a” I" III“ (“UM 81““ achieve similar success. Orchestra (Jim Ilannah UH) on keyboards. Stuart . pew Wylie And want The Smith 0” “a” and Mongrel: Long Tall Scally guitarist Graham Muir (5mm) Don‘t Lose Yum meIC‘C the “nc'upl- hm Dreams' deserved to be a E” 15 mkcsadiffflcm I massive hit and sotoo tack. leaning much more ! docsthis. Anthem“. dlrccu.‘ toward jazz and commercial and punchy. “’Ck Influcnccs' Spiced Wylie is as irrepressible as With “mic Clhnlc ever. Thankfully. he has “it"‘mrlngso The" i managed to redressthe Imaglnml‘m and‘lghl l artistic damage he did
album. Gentle it may be but is just as memorable as ‘(‘an I Kick It." but
ensemble Playing keep8 with his slaughtering of their bright. hard-edged ‘Sinfulg (1“) music well away from the . The Head Thmbs; Tom . morass offusion. Check ' Abandon [Hone Lime lhcm “UL (Kcnny 3 Indian) Cleopatra '3 Grip Millth-‘Onl was a stunning debut I album and the lead track. ‘Turn Away" takes off ' from where it left off. Pristine guitar pop with the Carlotti sisters in as fine voice as ever. I ‘Pumping(MyI-Ieart)' n finds the band rockingout , and ‘Bright Green Day" I sees them completely I wigging out. A sweet smelling breath of fresh ;_ _ l air. (JII) . i I Boo Radieys: Boo Up 5? (Rough Trade) Uh oh. i summer breeze chords ’ ahoy. Worryingly for a band who are supposed to be all coyed heads and ; mumblinglips. Boo l Radleys‘ third EP displays tendencies towards— shout ye not —- crystal-clear deftness of touch. ‘Everbird' and ‘Foster's Van' are built around hippy acoustics. and therein lies their blushing charm. The other two songs are hard bastards. proving that Boo Radleys are veritable Jekyll and , Hy'decharactersandare not to be trusted with the care of puppies. ((‘Mcl.) IThee Hypnotics: Shakedown (Situation Two) Just when you thought Thee ilypnotics had disappeared up their own arses with the notion that good rock‘n‘roll meant laboured riffing and an Americanised growl. back they roll with a snatchof their garage obsession of old. This time round. though. the MCSisms are souped up with some epic brass. lending the whole affair a widescreen kitsch appeal. The next Bond score is theirs for a cert. (F5) I The Primitives: Spells EP (RCA) The Prims get wise to the EP habit: four tracks of varying worth lumped together in the hope that no one will
I Soundgarden: Badmotortinger I (A&M)/Nirvana:ilevermlnd i (DGC) It's majorlabeltime for Sub Pop graduates. and the result istwo albums that knock spots off Mudhoney's last. Though Soundgarden are toiling slightly. enough of Badmolorfinger is excellent to make up for any shortcomings. They dip in and out ofcliché with gleeful unconcern. playing the way that feels right to them. and usually is. ' The grass is always greener where the dogs are shitting. ' runs one memorable line. Whether that sums up Soundgarden's philosophy or that oftheir followers is another matter. But you know and I know it‘s perfectly true. Nirvana let the pop kids get their rocks off—the ones who were smitten by Pixies. that is. and who will soon be stacking Nevermore! at the front of their collections as a fine example ofsharp. tunesome songs with a grungey underside. Check out ‘In Bloom‘. a wicked and wonderful tribute to an unhinged Nirvana fan (lthink). I-Iell.they'll even build a song around the bassline ofKilling Joke‘s ‘Eighties‘. that‘s how much of a shit they
I System 7: System 7 (Ten)
No doubt System 7
scented liked a good idea
at the time. On paper. it
still looks a good idea:
Steve I Iillage collaborates
with The ()rb's Alex
Paterson. Paul
()akenfold. Youth.
former Simple Mind Mick
McNeil and The
i Beloved's Steve Waddington to create the the best in contemporary
3 dance sounds. Why on
I earth does it sound so
damn boring then'.’ The
music nods in all the right
directions and. of course.
the musicianship is
' impeccable. but in the end it only sounds like an intellectual exercise devoid of feeling and any
! realhungertoentertain. The only times the album works at all is on tracks
like 'Freedom Fighters”. where Aniff Cousins'
seductive rapovercomes
the mundanity ofthe
music. A case of too many
cooks spoiling the broth.
l l Mabbotl) \
Or. rather. too many give. Superb. (Alastair “mice how Paul Court '. musm' . always saves the vocals on '; (James I {ahburmm V his best songs for himself. '2 I Milte Travis‘s EH 15: The 50 Tracy i5 '0“ with a ‘ View From Where (Eclectic . Slrugglc ‘0 make W 7 Records) A caescucamiy . I A Tribe Called Quest: i merely cute and pretty , rccording debut for Check The Rhime (Jive) ( sound winsome and
yearning. while Paul snafflestwo pop gems. turningin a classic indie drawl of a performance. Or perhaps he‘s just the better vocalist. (FS)
Borrowing from Average White Band's ‘Love Your
: Life'.rap's cutesttrio
i return with a mellow
i taster fortheir
f forthcoming The Low [ind
; drummer Mike Travis's
i quintet. Ell 15 (named after the Portobello postcode) is very much a collaborative band. both in terms ofeontributing
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