Singles - December 2008

Nick Harrison - Something Special

We like Nick Harrison here at the Jitty. His last single, ‘Oi Rude Boy’ came out of the blue and was very well received and the latest offering ‘Something Special’ continues the trend. The ska/suburbs foundation is still there but is less upfront than the last release, coming across like a bouncy blend of Fun Boy Three and Hard-Fi. It’s a sharp, spiky tale of misguided love, eyes across the dancefloor, and the ups and downs that life can throw at you.. quite bittersweet in its own way, but always honest and open. This is definitely softer than Nick’s last outing, so slips into your subconscious by far more subtle means. Nick's demonstrated on many occasions that he can handle wonderfully catchy yet never cheesy pop with ease, so all we need now is for the next single to be a full-on skanking piledriver that’d put the Specials to shame and we’ll have the whole set. Get to it, Harrison!

My American Heart - There Are More Frightening Things

Something strange has been happening in the world of heavy guitar music recently.. there seem to be a whole new wave of young bands who are tapping into music that was doing the rounds before they were old enough to be onstage for themselves, and as a result they’re able to skip all of the rubbish and go straight for the jugular. Have a listen to ‘Hand Of Blood’ by Bullet For My Valentine, for example, where they seem to hammer through the highlights of Metallica’s glory years in the first 30 seconds of the track. My American Heart are another one of those bands with a huge, complex and mature sound that belies their age, and seems to mix diverse influences flawlessly from all over the place. ‘There Are More Frightening Things’ is a dense, constantly shifting montage of themes from dark, glorious harmonies to bonecrunching refrains, delivered with absolute precision – try to imagine Dream Theatre’s less self-indulgent monents filtered through Alkaline Trio with a healthy dose of atmospheric electronica when needed. At 3.44 this is by no means a long track, but you’d swear it was at least twice that whilst trying to work out how they managed to pack so much in. Definitely worth a listen for open minded fans of all things loud and guitarry.

The Shortwave Set - Glitches 'N' Bugs

Have you ever met one of those dogs that brings you a favourite toy, drops it on the floor at your feet, and then looks at you expectantly.. only to snatch it away when you reach for it, allowing the wuffly pooch equivalent of giggles out of the corner of its mouth? You’ll be well prepared for The Shortwave Set then, who seem to be playing such a game with you - don’t worry, they’ll let you in on it eventually.. just not before they’ve mucked around with you first. Glitches ‘N’ Bugs is an odd little slice of psychedelic pop that jangles and pings all over the place, yet never strays too far away from a tight chorus for comfort. You can almost imagine a group of friends sitting in their basement with amid a whole collection of retro synths and bizarre percussion and just seeing where things go. It’s sweet, quirky and good natured, if mildly confusing at first. ‘Here I Go Again’ is a bouncy and oddball number that you could probably get away with describing as geeky acoustic trip-pop, constantly bodyswerving and throwing you electronic curveballs. It’s reminiscent of ‘Drinking In La’ by Bran Van 3000, for those of you with good memories, and has the same cheeky infectious sense of humour. They also cover Slave To The Rhythm by Grace Jones in a sensitive, atmospheric acoustic style, and frankly you’re on your own in trying to work out the motivations behind this one. Two diverse remixes of the title track round off the package nicely, leaving you in no doubt that the album will probably be even more confusing.. but not necessarily in a bad way.

Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy

I think I may have been sent a broken pressing of this single – we’re already nearly minute in and nothing has happened except some rumbly noise.. no wait, that was a guitar just there.. Oh.

To put this in context, Axl Rose has spent the last 14 years and over $13 million dollars producing the Chinese Democracy album, riding out all sorts of personnel issues in the process. As the only original member of GnR he’s now settled on a lineup featuring number of backing players from other bands, many of whom have an industrial edge. In all honesty I’m really not sure it was worth all the hassle, as what we have here almost defines the word mediocre. A quick straw poll of a couple of other original GnR fans came back with almost identical responses – ‘if this was the first record by a new band, you might watch them to see if they became more interesting’. It’s a predictable sub-Seattle trudge through horribly digital sounding guitars, Axl’s now tortured and gravelly vocals, and some truly terrible lyrics – if it’s an attempt at political commentary as the title would suggest, it falls far short. The final kick in the teeth is the reminder that Slash is no longer onboard via a series of pointless and noodling guitar solos that have been turned well down in the mix, almost by means of an apology. I’ve not heard the album yet and will still listen to it when it comes my way but the title track is the biggest musical let down I’ve experienced for years.

Dorp – Pigs Do Fly / Cops And Robbers

This is more like it! What we have here is tha double A sided single from London based Dorp’s debut album ‘Humans Being’ and it’s a scuzzy little gem. Dorp lead the assault with a punchy, edgy sound packed with sharp guitars and lots of tweaky electronics. The first track up, ‘Pigs Do Fly’ starts with a brooding Therapy?-esque rhythm section before frontman Piet Bez’s quietly aggressive vocals take hold. You’re then thrown into bombastic chorus, where the guitars grind, slash and jangle over the synths in the best traditions of techno-rock. The second track, ‘Cops and Robbers’ takes on a cheeky swagger underpinned by the tangible sense of menace lurking among the social commentary in Bez’s lyrics. It’s quirky and off balance, but comes together like a true fist-in-the- air live anthem. Dorp seem to have stepped back in time by some fifteen years, picked up the ball where bands like EMF and Renegade Soundwave dropped it, and dragged it screaming into the present day. Good stuff.