The Dirty Dozen – February 2012

Reviewing personnel: Graeme Ronald, Andy Brown, James Swinburne, Joseph Quimby, Joanne Murtagh and Tommy Stuart

The Mojo Fins – Lighthouse (Amazon Records, 13 Feb)
Andy: There’s a lot of needle work guitar lattices going on. It’s like a Greggs pasty.
Graeme:  A Greggs single? I don’t think Greggs sell pasties.
Andy: They do, cheese and onion ones. This is just another band that sounds like The Smiths.
Graeme: I’ve got a problem with any band that has the word ‘mojo’ in their name.
Andy: I’d give it a two. It was bad.

Azari & III – Reckless (With Your Love) (Island, 13 Feb)
Graeme: It sounds like Good Life.
Joanne: I like the start of it.
Graeme: I liked it when it sounded like Good Life. But not so much now. It reminds me a bit of Empire of the Sun.
Andy: There’s a lot of Chicago piano going on. That’s alright.
Joe: It sounds like CC Peniston!
All: (in unison) Yeah!
Graeme: It gets a four for sounding like CC Peniston alone.

The Indicators – Simon D (Indelabel, 30 Jan)
Joe: (appalled) Can you switch that off immediately?
Andy: This is absolutely atrocious. It’s not punk. It’s kind of Chas n’ Dave ‘knees up mother brown’.
Tommy: He sounds like a bellend.
Graeme: I’d give that a zero.
Andy: Yeah, it’s not even worth one.

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – John Taylor’s Month Away (Domino, 6 Feb)
Graeme:  This is nice stuff. You can tell he’s a good songwriter. It’s the kind of song you would have to spend time with. There’s a lot to explore.
Andy: The orchestration of it is very well done.
Joanne: Yeah, I like it.
Graeme: I think we should give it a seven. You never know what’s round the corner.

The Megathronic Thrift – The Megathronic Thrift (Club AC30, 6 Feb)
Graeme: It sounds like Sonic Youth. It’s neo-neo grunge.
Andy: That’s not a bad thing in my eyes. It’s like the sound that Fierce Panda were releasing 20 years ago. The bassist must be getting bored, it’s just one note all the way through.
Joanne: It’s boring.
Tommy: I’d give them some Thursday market bought Mini Eggs.
Graeme: It’s not aggressive enough. That gets a four.

The Title Sequence – Dinosaur (Too Pure, 27 Feb)
Graeme: I’d give the press release alone a seven. Did they have to sell their vintage synths? I’m not hearing much synth.
Andy: Tommy’s putting his feet up against the screen. I don’t think he likes it. [Tommy is contributing to proceedings via Skype]
Graeme: Don’t you like it Tommy?
James: It’s really doing nothing for me.
Joanne: I’d say it gets a five.
Graeme: A five sounds about right.

Tom Williams & the Boat – My Bones (Moshi Moshi, 27 Feb)
Graeme: It sounds like Bergerac. It’s the sound of driving whilst wearing leather gloves.
Andy: I think he’s misconstrued Leonard Cohen with just moaning.
Graeme: Yeah, this is the worst so far.
Andy: (incredulously) Worse than The Indicators?
Graeme: I think so.
Andy: It’s a shoo-in for a Brit Award.
Graeme: Okay, Tom Williams gets a one.

Single of the Month: Fucked Up – Year of The Tiger (Matador, 6 Feb)
Andy: I think this will be difficult to review, with it being 15 minutes long. There’s a lot to take in and make a quick assessment on.
Graeme: I like it so far.
Andy: I think for a supposed punk band, they’ve got a pretty indie sound. But I suppose this is them working past that. It's punk, but with a more poppy and melodic sound.
Graeme: I think it’s quite confusing that it’s been released for the Chinese New Year – but it’s called Year of The Tiger, when it’s actually the Year of the Dragon. We have to draw attention to that. And you’ve got to credit them for giving proceeds from the single to the save the tiger fund.
Andy: I’m into it. Out of everything we’ve heard so far, I’d give it an eight.
Graeme: Yeah, I like it.

Magnetic Fields – Andrew in Drag (Domino, 27 Feb)
Graeme: Magnetic Fields always write good lyrics, but this isn’t their most memorable single.
Andy: They’re quite an arch band, I think. You can tell this is them deliberately writing a candy floss pop song, but with quite dark lyrics.
James: Sorry, but I don’t like it.
Andy: To be fair, it actually has a chorus. And I can’t remember any of the other previous singles having one. I think it’s a four at least.
Graeme: I think we should change that to a five, because it’s Magnetic Fields.

Django Django – Default (Because Music, 30 Jan)
Graeme: I’ve heard this before, it’s being played a lot on 6Music just now. Is it not the guy from the Beta Band’s wee brother? There’s a definite kind of Beta Band vibe to it.
Andy: I like The Zombies-like vocals they’ve got going, that sweet 60s sound.
Joanne: I would definitely buy this.
Graeme: That’s a good endorsement! I think this has to be at least a seven.
Joanne: Yeah, at least a seven.

Emika – 3 Hours (Ninja Tune, 13 Feb)
Andy: Dubby!
Graeme: I’ve heard that effect before.
Andy: It’s pure progressive Goa trance!
Graeme: It’s quite 90s sounding production. But then I’m getting old.
Andy: That’s deep, deep house. They’d play it in Death Disco wouldn’t they?
Joe: The music’s good, but I don’t like the vocal.
Andy: I’m feeling very unmoved by it. It would be listened to by people dancing, looking at each other smirking.
Graeme: It’s actually quite depressing. A five?
Andy: I think it’s a four.

The Trudy – Dirt Cheap Melody (Miron, 13 Feb)
Andy: It’s as bad as that Blondie song they came back with, was it Maria?
Graeme: Yeah, that was the one! This is a shit Blondie.
Joe: It sounds like it’s being played along to a montage.
Graeme: Yeah, it sounds like a montage of girls putting on make-up.
Andy: I bet they sounded a lot better first time around, in 1988. I think for that they should at least get a two.
Graeme: Just to mark them a notch above The Indicators.