EOIN BUTLER'Sguide to downloads, singles and free audiostreams
KINGS OF LEON
RadioactiveRCA **
Oh dear Lord. I'm sure I won't be the only music critic to concede that the pigeons of St Louis's Verizon Amphitheatre really got the jump on us here. Radioactiveis the Followill brothers' hand- clapping, baby-kissing Rattle & Hummoment. And, boy, is it cringe-inducing. Their fifth album, Come Around Sundown,arrives next month.
BABYBEEF
Candles After the Quake ****
Glacial synth pop from a woman whose shocked facial expression suggests she’s just heard the truth about Santa Claus. (Check out her MySpace – it really does!) The very talented Sarah Carroll Kelly launches her debut album in Dublin’s Twisted Pepper tonight, with Hipster Youth (him again) playing baby potatoes to her Babybeef.
THE SCRIPT
For the First TimeRCA/Sony **
The title of their second album, Science and Faith, may suggest that The Script are grappling with weightier issues than they were circa The Man Who Can't Be Moved.But fans needn't worry: this is more of the same mindless pabulum they've come to know and love: "Oh, these times are making me crazy. Don't give up on me baby. I once met a lady called Sadie etc. etc."
ALEX GAUDINO
I’m in Love (I Wanna Do It) ***
Attention, wedding DJs and office Christmas party organisers: a 1990s revival as wearily predictable as Mayo crashing out of the Championship is almost upon us. Exhibit A is this blatantly retro slice of early 1990s Italian house (replete with an intro that is spookily reminiscent of Dario G’s 1997 Sunchyme hit). The nostalgia treadmill continues.
IMELDA MAY
MayhemUniversal Music Ireland ***
My enjoyment of Imelda May’s new single is marred only by the nagging suspicion that its title may be a dodgy pun on her stage surname. It isn’t . . . is it?
