This Christmas single from Liverpool-based trio Hot Club De Paris is full of their usual… unusualness, if that’s a word. Festive bells and melodies are woven intricately into a time signature that flits around almost as fast as the guitarist’s left hand must to get around that fret board. Where the song falls down is hard to say exactly, because it really doesn’t, but nor does it take off to the skies like an infectious math-rock enigma as previous singles have done. The b-side, an acoustic cover of The Clash’s ‘Straight To Hell’, is nicely done, but drags a bit after a while. Overall, this single is pretty much guaranteed to be better than its rivals in the Christmas chart, but that doesn’t mean it’s great.
Rating: 7/10
Author: Rory Walker
DOWN, DOWN, DOWN with the pretentious 'daaance' of Sophie Ellis Bextor, with the unnecessary estuary English forced upon us from ever conceivable musical syringe trying to infect out pores with toffish, southern, accentual music. Maximo Park's insistence upon ramming geordieism, resplendent with intelligent lyrics and 'you-just-have-to-dance' rhythm makes ‘Karaoke Plays’ the finest new single from the northernmost quartet around. Not as aggressive as ‘Our Velocity’, or as powerfully sonic as ‘Going Missing’, ‘Karaoke Plays’ is the goldilocks of Maximo singles - it'll leave you gently appreciating it for days.
Stomping chorus, vicious violin, slightly erratic sounding vocal (at one point I though her tongue had fallen out of her mouth). I thought the previous release topshoprockabilly ‘Just A Song About Ping Pong’ meant Operator Please were mere jokes, but this track (although sounding a little like Sons and Daughters) pushes my digits (I have two). The remixes are pointless: should've just worked on your own over- rated music- I am talking to YOU, New Young Pony Club.
Having heard a few of Foals’ previous singles I was pretty sure I was in for a nice bit of fairly straight up angular indie. On this track however Foals showcase a surprisingly diverse depth of sound, blending simple sax over chiming harmonics and wonderfully lo-fi synth blips, and wrapping the whole thing up in a brilliantly edgy dance punk aesthetic. Catchy without being dumbed down this is how forward thinking pop music should sound.
I just can’t get away from the annoying likeness to The Kooks. Before listening to this I had the impression that this guy’s music was some sort of scrumptious chocolate cake. However, I think I can guess what his ‘Have I Been a Fool’ recipe is. For the base, take four, straightforward chords, and put them together to make an obvious progression. For the main filling, mix a boring storyline about upsetting your girlfriend, South London culture, and a dash of bass guitar, standard drum patterns, and if you’re feeling bold, try adding a pinch of keyboard. Finally, sprinkle generously with as many clichés, ranging from ‘cookie crumbled’ to ‘mountain of a molehill’ as you can. Bake for two and half minutes, and, Bon Appetite!
