Singles - Christmas 2010 roundup

Little Fish - Sweat n Shiver

Less in your face than their previous singles, Sweat n Shiver is an edgy road-movie crystallised in music form - dark with a deliciously sleazy undercurrent and a devil-take-the-hindmost attitude. Juju’s vocals hint at the unspoken gaps in the story with conviction and just the right amount of venom, and the drums and Hammond organ strike the perfect balance between supercharging the atmosphere and letting the lyrics breathe. Single of the season.

Klaxons - Twin Flames

Not quite sure what on make of this - even though the Klaxons’ recent direction leans towards spacey and psychedelic, this is the opposite - minimalist and jarring. It’s incredibly hard to warm to as there’s little to grab onto outside of the overpowering rolling beat. The only recent comparison I can make is with Ian Brown’s last album, except the vocals here are bearable. One for the fans.

The Wanted - Heart Vacancy

Sickly, sugary, charmless pocket money bait. If you have to autotune voices in a ballad it’s usually a clear sign that the singers can’t actually sing.

Japanese Voyeurs - Milk Teeth

This is a hell of a wake- up call - pounding, moody, intense and dangerously unhinged. It’s a thrashy cross between experimental hardcore and Riot-Grrl, and I can’t figure out if Romily’s unique voice is the glue holding the music together or actually threatens to tear it apart. Either way, they’ve got me yet again - this is the fine line between being fascinated by a collapsing building, and wanting to stand on top as it goes down. I challenge you to try to relax for one second when this is playing, in the same way you wouldn’t turn your back on a pitbull. Once more…

Dinosaur Pile-Up - Mona Lisa

Nice, honest production values underpinning a likeable, harmonious guitar racket. Mona Lisa is a bouncy three and a half minute blast that feels like a mellower Wildhearts or Honeycrack. Sounds like the sort of thing that would be a blast in a small club gig, and worth checking out.

South Central - Demons EP

South Central have had some great slots supporting the Prodigy and Pendulum so you’d expect something intense and dramatic, but this sounds like a watered down Daft Punk drowned in unnecessary vocoder. You get a few mixes but nothing that rescues what’s essentially a hollow offering to start with. Best to stick to their intriguing remixes of other people’s tracks.

Pendulum - The Island

This is a slightly more laid back Pendulum, with the emphasis more on upfront vocals than cracking heads. It’s not bad as far as it goes, but the Pendulum sound has become so synonymous with hardcore dance-rock crossovers that it doesn’t quite sit right. The Lenzman remix falls back into familiar territory if you’re feeling short changed and want a bit more pace, and the final track ‘The Island PT II Dusk (DJ Edit)’ is a far more sinister and dramatic instrumental affair that’s worth a spin.

Duffy - Well Well Well

I can’t help it - I keep expecting her to shout ‘EVERYBODY DANCE NOW’ every time the lead riff comes in, being a dead ringer for 'Gonna Make You Sweat' by the awful C & C Music Factory. I have a lot of respect for Duffy, but this feels like a great singer shoehorned into a bad party dance track that fell out of the 90s. I think I prefer her when she’s being mellow and sultry, the disco diva bit just doesn’t cut it.

The Bluetones - Golden Soul

Quite a chilled late 60s vibe here, very much like the Byrds reincarnated. Golden Soul is a slightly country-ish poppy ballad that’s very sweet and pleasant, but not terribly exciting. I’d definitely leave the radio on if it was playing, but I wouldn’t necessarily walk to the shelf for the CD.

Young Guns - Weight Of The World

These days rock only seems acceptable when grafted into some unholy crossover, so you really need bands like Young Guns to get stuck in and wave the traditional flag high. It’s a decent high-energy blast - maybe not groundbreaking or life changing, but solid and rowdy enough to be likeable and a good taster for the live show.

We Are Enfant Terrible - Wild Child

Minimalist French electro-pop with an experimental edge. The one thing I can’t get over is the coldness of the recordings - it feels harsh and cynical, there’s no love there. It probably has more in common with classic video game music than the dancefloor, and I can’t escape the sense that there’s not really much more to come.

Enter Shikari - Destabilise

Another bombload of brutal expletive-laden techno-metal, just as you’d expect. Enter Shikari can be relied on to stick to their guns, and Destabilise is no exception. It's a tight, harsh and uncompromising mix and can sometimes edge towards overpowering, but then that's the nature of the beast. When it comes to this genre you’ll either know and love it, or find it too much like hard work, so I’ll leave you to decide what camp you’re in. If it's the former, give it a go and play it loud.

Awolnation - Back From Earth EP

This is a bizarre, changeable four tracker that bounces between acid-funk, new wave rantiness and an almost RnB feel depending on the track. I’ll be straight with you - I don’t get it, I’m not sure how to approach it, and I’m not even convinced that trying to be too many things at once is ever a good idea. Have a listen just to see if you can figure it out, but it’s not for me.

Fun - Walking the Dog

A surprisingly retro slice of lightweight pop-funk from the New York indiekids. Walking the Dog is wrapped up in wilfully whimsical vocal hooks over an almost ska-like backing track. It’s an inoffensive, perky little thing, but doesn’t really feel like it’s about to take off.