• Test Icicles
• Maths & Physics Club
• Emporium
• Clor
• Tokyo Eye
• Roisin Murphy
• Nir Graham
• The Blue Van
• Maximo Park
• Interpol
• Sons and Daughters

• Santa Dog
• Jynxt
• Rouge
• Kayip
• Sandi Thom
• Hiem

Tokyo Eye - Vindictive EP - Rejection And Vindication/Kiss Kiss Kiss/Conversation/Heard It All Before (Vapen och Godis)
Gothenburg's Tokyo Eye have at least got a bit of snot about them. Opening track has double girl shouting action, and promises good stuff. Guitars serate and on Ono cover Kiss Kiss Kiss, they let go a bit more, Babes In Toyland/Sleater Kinney style. Nice. I turn over to side B then full of hope - and I'm not let down. Things get punked up a bit more and you get the feeling that a proper view live is needed for the full on effect. Simple enough Tasty, get them over.

Dave Procter

(www.tokyoeye.tk)

This is at the ultra dancey version of the electro spectrum and if 'Friendz' doesn't have the cool electro kids doing their funny ambivalent dancing then someone should take their Kraftwerk records away. I hope it's OK to like techno these days or I'm gonna look like a right geek. But I haven't had this much fun since I played Depeche Mode's 'Violator' in the 6th form com.

SB

Roisin Murphy – If We’re in Love (Echo)
Moloko girl in striking out on her own shocker. This is a very odd song. For a start it sounds like the instrumentation was recorded underwater. By Cameo. In 1986. Word up! This isn’t far removed from later Moloko stuff, in the fact that it’ll be played at proper, grown up dinner parties in the very near future. Or over a goal of the month competition on Match of the Day. The choice is yours.

Sam Metcalf

Flipside 'Little Remedy' further demonstrates Thom's awesome voice which warbles and soars at will. But sometimes more is less, if you know what I mean.

SB

Nir Graham - PopRockRockFolk (white label)
Decidedly lo-fi recording wise, but definitely some promise here. Some good ideas, alt-folky in nature, and sniffs of the Silver Jews and Sparklehorse can be smelt amongst these tunes. Re-record them is my advice. And write some more.....

Dave Procter

(www.sevenbigrooms.co.uk)

The Blue Van – Revelation of Love (TVT)
Produced in the garage of one of the MC5, ‘Revelation of Love’ screams 1969 psyche to me. Y’know the sort of thing, ragged guitars, a completely fucked Who guitar solo, and the sort of vocals that make Jimi Hendrix sound like the best orator in the world. Not half bad, all in all.

Sam Metcalf

Each song is long, as is the norm with this genre but never too long. Perhaps disappointingly there is no evidence of any particular Korean or oriental influence in the style but the ep remains an understated gem of intelligent ambient electro.

SB

Maximo Park – Going Missing (Warp)
I try so hard not to like this lot, but it’s mighty difficult not to like their off-kilter indie pop/rock. They seem to have an edge that most of their counterparts (you know their names, I don’t have to tell you) lack. Maximo Park have interesting little noodly guitar parts in their songs, and whilst this isn’t gonna set the world on fire, it’s a million miles from the sort of dull shit we have to put up with in The Killer Chiefs. And thank goodness for that.

Sam Metcalf

Interpol – ‘Slow Hands’ (Matador)
I find it hard to believe that there is anyone who hasn’t heard Interpol previously, so describing their sound seems somewhat superfluous. However to err on the side of caution I suppose I should just say that they sound like a more upbeat, less oppressive version of Joy Division. This single, taken from the new album ‘Antics’ is fairly representative of the group’s development since their 2002 album ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’. Their sound has become less hectic and moved towards a more considered rock style. That said anyone who wasn’t taken with ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ isn’t really going to like this. Although their sound has developed since ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, the recent material isn’t that much of a departure. It sounds like a rather obvious thing to say, but those who like Interpol will like this single, those that don’t, won’t. 

Michael Pearson

Sons and Daughters –‘Taste the Last Girl’ (Domino)
Relentlessly chipper pop /post-punk, from Franz Ferdinand label mates Sons and Daughters. This kind of thing seems to be very popular at the moment, and normally drives me into something of a rage. Remarkably though this single didn’t have that effect. Possibly it’s the slight suggestion of a doo-wop sound which makes this stand out from other bands in this vein i.e. Franz Ferdinand. Either way this had me tapping my feet like a mad bastard. Most enjoyable.     

Michael Pearson

SB