pete and THE pirates, tiny masters of today, css and more - singles for THE week beginning 1st october

CSS / ALCOHOL (SUB POP) It’s my firm belief that the last thing Lovefoxxx – and the rest of CSS for that matter – needs, is alcohol. It’d be like giving a big bag of sugar to a hyperactive child before turning them lose in a china shop. Alcohol (both the song and beverage) has always been a fan favourite and tops off what has been a mighty year for the Brazilian sextet. Its combination of quirky electro beats with even quirkier lyrics (‘am I horse? / am I on fire?’) serve as a fantastic reminder of quite why we’ve fallen in love with them over the past 13 months. LETHAL BIZZLE / A: POLICE ON MY BACK ~ AA: SELFRIDGES GIRL NOT ON MYSPACE (V2) Remember when everyone laughed at William Shatner for his spoken word albums? Well Lethal Bizzle wasn’t one of them, at least not if ‘Police on My Back’ is anything to go by: this is him giving it his own unique treatment and producing another unstoppable grime juggernaut. ‘Police on My Back’ sees Lethal recount a daring escape from the boys in blue after ‘liberating’ a Fiat Punto. Dodging helicopters, police and police dogs, Lethal abandons the car, hops some fences and hides in a shed. Backed up by solid AA side ‘Selfridges Girl Not On Myspace’ it’d be fair to say that Lethal Bizzle is definitely in the hizzle… or shed. MANIC STREET PREACHERS / INDIAN SUMMER (EPIC) Having been described as ‘a minor chord companion to A Design for Life’ – largely because of the familiar pre-chorus guitar riff - ‘Indian Summer’ sees the Manics return to doing what they do best. James Dean Bradfield still has one hell of an eye for a melody and when accompanied by a driving rhythm section and orchestral grandeur, this has all the ingredients a modern Manics classic. TINY MASTERS OF TODAY / HEY MR DJ (MUTE) Some love them, some hate them – others just fear their tiny hands. Reviewing TMOT is a bit like playing Russian roulette; everything’s fine when you’ve got an empty chamber of lovely comments, but get the loaded one full of harsh (but fair) criticism and BOOM! Sharing the same name as Madonna song is one thing, but sounding remarkably close to one is quite another. Having both of these qualities – as TMOT do - should be punishable by some inventive form of torture. It can’t be an attempt to be ironic because, well, they’re 12. Yes, it’s great that they’re young and producing music but ‘Hey Mr DJ’ just isn’t that good – there, I said it. Come get me Artrocker readers… ED HARCOURT / YOU PUT A SPELL ON ME (HEAVENLY) Consistently overlooked and often underrated – it’s been the story of Harcourt’s career, but he never fails to deliver. You Put A Spell On Me is quite frankly one of the most beautiful songs you are ever likely to hear. It’s the sort of song that you could imagine playing in the background during all the important moments in your life. Released several weeks ahead of his Best Of, ‘You Put A Spell On Me’ shows that there is still much more to come from Mr Harcourt. IDA MARIA / WE’RE ALL GOING TO HELL (NESNA) Two rather cheery titles, which when joined together almost form a complete sentence. Still, if I lived somewhere that had barely any daylight I’d probably be thinking along the same lines. You would be wrong to let the track names fool you though. ‘Oh My God’ has a great garage-rock quality that will have you screaming away those encroaching autumnal blues. Ida Maria isn’t quite crazy enough to be Peaches and she lacks the pixie-like qualities of Bjork, but on the evidence of this single she could well be the Norwegian love-child of Iggy Pop and Chrissie Hynde. Play it loud.