parka, british sea power, maccabees and more - singles for THE week beginning january 7th!

BRITISH SEA POWER / WAVING FLAGS (ROUGH TRADE) ‘You are astronomical…’ muse British Sea Power on this, their latest single. Thanks BSP, that’s mighty kind of you, but why the devil have you got us all waving flags? Apparently as a homage to ‘the allure of Central and Eastern Europe.’ This is all well and good, but in reality it just seems a little bit… pretentious. The song’s saving grace is a majestic arrangement which lifts you off of your feet into some truly mesmerising territory – albeit a territory that lacks the energy of their previous efforts. CLOCKS / ALL I CAN (ISLAND) Clocks have used some freaky voodoo rage to channel the spirit of Marc Bolan and inject him into this melodic, indie-pop sandwich. There are also shades of The Coral amongst the huge, rattling guitar backdrop which prove suitably pleasing and ensure that you’ll be whistling it long after it’s ended. ‘All I Can’ has a distinct ‘guilty pleasure’ feel to it - definitely one to watch in 2008. MACCABEES / TOOTHPASTE KISSES (FICTION) Unless you’ve been living in a box on the moon, you’d have done well to avoid catching this song accompanying an advert for a posh camera phone. Whilst this rather minimalist, ukulele driven effort which speaks of ‘heart-shaped bruises’ and ‘toothpaste kisses’ is actually very charming, the band appear to have ruffled the feathers of some die hard fans by including it as a bonus track on the re-released version of their debut album. Phone adverts and re-released albums? For shame, Maccabees. For shame. MUSCLES / SWEATY (MODULAR) This song is so filthy that you should be prepared to take a long shower after listening to it. That’s right, a long, cold shower that’ll give you enough time to think about what you’ve done. ‘Sweaty’ is essentially an idiots run down of a one night stand set to a thumping Milo-esque backing track. If the falsetto chants of ‘peace, love, ecstasy’ don’t grab your attention, the occasional saucy slap bass interlude certainly will.