cajun dance party, voxtrot, mum and more... - singles for THE week beginning 27th august

LITTLE MAN TATE / EUROPEAN LOVER (V2) ‘Would you believe me if I told you I was sorry? / I didn’t mean to make you sad’… Hmmm. Not the most inspiring of opening lines, but then its not always about the lyrics is it? At least this Sheffield indie four piece are singing about the things we know; like sambuca flavoured tonsil tennis. Despite the bridge sounding like a Smack The Pony piss take, this tune is redeemed by its shouty, moreish chorus - which strangely reminded me of an Irish jig. VOXTROT / FIRECRACKER (PLAYLOUDERRECORDINGS) Sitting through this song is a slightly uncomfortable experience, with everything seeming just a little bit askew. It is hard to relax while frontman Ramesh spends part of the song running after the rest of the band shouting ‘wait for me’… and the rest trying to be too clever with the lyrics. The chorus melodies are quite good but what use is that when his annoying voice brings to mind an air grabbing, face contorting X factor hopeful? SIOUXIE / INTO A SWAN (W14) The legendary Siousie Sioux doesn’t disappoint with this relentless, Gary Newmanesque epic. We can forgive the use of echo effects on the vocals – she is over 50 after all, and this shapes up to be an unapologetic industrial beast of a tune- all dark chainsaw soundscapes and fantastic drumming. THE GANG BANG DJS / LIGHT SOUND DANCE (BANG GANG 12 INCHES) The Gang Bang Deejays like to describe their sound as being a bit of a mish mash - and what a fantastic mix of srunchy, shimmery jingly- jangly,plinky plonky, clippie cloppy disco it is too! This mixes 80’s school gym display music, stadium rock, ‘yeah ha’ banjo, ethnic drum beats, hard ass techno, hip hop, beat box and classical rhymes, all swizzling up joyfully into 2 brilliant CDs (the black disc and the white disc). Ear to ear grinning is compulsory! MUM / THEY MADE FROGS SMOKE UNTIL THEY EXPLODED (FAT CAT) This track is described as a ‘chirpy’ song about animal cruelty. A contradiction in terms you might say – although it’s hard to tell since there aren’t any words. Its difficult to draw any concrete conclusions about this experimental medley of cricket sounds, children’s singing, harmonicas, and glockenspiel. At first listen it feels really jarring, but it soon becomes a grower - and I was won over by the title too.