Time Out singles reviews #4
Martin Horsfield reviews the pick of this week’s A-sides, B-sides, downloads and miscellaneous.
Duffy - Rockferry
Can you believe it? London is so vast that we had 204 pages last week and still didn’t find space to mention this beauty from a Welsh lass who’s somehow channelled Ronnie Spector and Marianne Faithful into what’s not only the undisputed single of the year but also an unlikely homage to the Wirral’s hubcap Bermuda Triangle. Well, we’ve done our bit now, so go and buy it.
Uh Huh Her - I See Red
Less a single, more an extended series of breathless bedroom noises, ‘I See Red’ is so very desperate to be rude that it might as well come with a free pair of crotchless knickers. But who programmed that drum machine? The way it momentarily abandons its ‘New Order’ setting for ‘Ringo’ at 3.12 would put anyone off their stroke.
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Year Long Disaster - Per Qualche Dollaro In Piu
Existing for those of you who find Wolfmother too urbane, Year Long Disaster’s sludgy riffola is undermined somewhat by singer Daniel Davies’ ludicrous rawk holler which even lan Astbury would save for private moments with the shower head. Still, there’s obviously a metal gene in the family: dad, Dave, invented this stuff when he was in the Kinks.
Plain White T’s - Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)
Radio 2-strangling mega-hit ‘Hey There Delilah’ was a Trojan horse, it seems. For Plain White T’s aren’treally mere peddlers of anaemic balladry. It turns out they’re equally adept at tossing off anaemic pomp rock like this.
Nayo - Desert Storm
Lagos: what could be less evocative of its congested, polluted madness than this freshly ground, coffee-table soul from the city’s ‘new Sade’? Mind you: they probably said the same thing about Hull and Everything But the Girl.
Miranda Lee Richards - Life Boat
Twinkly loveliness which sounds like Judee Sill recorded underwater; this essentially finishes at two minutes then lingers around, ghostlike, for another two. That’s 50 per cent added twinkly loveliness, folks.
Pink Floyd… in their pants - Cymbaline
Ladies! Bored of watching the same old Pink Floyd soundcheck footage on YouTube? Well, now you can see them in the nip in 1971 St Tropez. Naturally, David Gilmour is the band’s resident super-buff hottie. But look out (and we mean ‘look out’) for cheery old Roger Waters wearing the shortest shorts in all hippiedom.
First published in Time Out, March 2008
