wolf people, get crucial, lorraine and more - singles for THE week beginning 10th december

GET CRUCIAL / PLANES (RAMP RECORDINGS) If you glean anything from this bizarre song, it’s that Get Crucial like watching planes. In fact, the only motif here is the lyric: ‘I like watching planes’. These lines are drowned beneath a a wall of Sonic Youth-esque noise, but occasionally protrude like a jagged rock beneath a harsh sea. SCOUTING FOR GIRLS / ELVIS AINT DEAD (EPIC) Dear Santa, I know you’re busy this time of year, but I know what I want for Christmas. I’ve been talking with my band and, well, we’ve already got a kooky name, but what we need is the ability to write an overtly cliché song. You know, the sort of song that compares famous figures with lost love and romance so that it all seems really poignant, even though it’s really a bit hackneyed. If you could find a way to wrap it in a poor piano melody and deliver it before December 10th we’d be really grateful. All the best, SFG. IDA MARIA / DRIVE AWAY MY HEART (NESNA) Ida Maria has a magnificent 40-a-day voice that puts Joe Cocker to shame. Combining PJ Harvey’s raw energy with Bjork’s Scandinavian charm, Ida Maria has once again proved that all eyes and ears should be focused firmly on her. ‘Drive Away My Heart’ retains her ‘rock song with pop sensibilities’ style. ASOBI SEKSU / MERRY CHRISTMAS – I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT TONIGHT (ONE LITTLE INDIAN) It’ll always be hard to make a Ramones song your own, but New Yorkers Asobi Seksu have done their very best to fill out this song with soft vocals and swirling atmospherics. As a result, the madness of the original becomes somewhat subdued, but this is still a valiant effort, and far from unsuccessful. LORRAINE / SAVED (COLUMBIA) It’s an understatement to say this song flirts with 1980s Euro-pop. ‘Saved’ meets a drunken Euro-pop in the bar, whispers sweet nothings in its ear and takes it home to show off its etchings. The result? The worst parts of the 1980s (Michael Bolton’s mullet, Kenny G’s saxophone, and Mr Mister’s song writing calibre) sandwiched into a single song. HOLY HAIL / COOL TOWN ROCK (ADVENTURES CLOSE TO HOME) Holy Hail Artrocker readers! It’s… erm… Holy Hail. Alas, this isn’t as entertaining as the old Batman TV series: instead it’s less KAPOW! and more ‘Hmmm’. The boy/girl vocal dynamic is wafer thin and the vocal pattern repeated throughout the song is immediatley tedious. It’s a lacklustre effort that packs as much punch as Robin’s weedy forearm.