Shuffle

Eoin Butler'sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams.

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
Tired of England
Vertigo
**
Conceding that life isn't always plain sailing, but exhorting listeners not to let "it" bring them down, has been the fallback option for every lazy rock lyricist since Noel Gallagher in the mid-1990s. But hearing the dreaded cliche drop from the lips of a singer who, not long ago, was half of such a fresh songwriting partnership is doubly depressing. What became of the likely lads? Indeed.

MGMT
Electric Feel
Columbia
***
On the follow-up single to the now ubiquitous Time to Pretend, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van
Wyngarden express a desire to be shocked by electric eels. That's 600 volts - I hope they're wearing
rubber-soled shoes!

LAST SHADOW PUPPETS
Standing Next to Me
Domino
****
It's been dismissed as a vanity project by some. But the Last Shadow Puppets' scorecard reads
two out of two cracking Scott Walker-influenced singles. Can't really quibble with that, can you?

GLASVEGAS
Geraldine
Columbia
****
"My name is Geraldine/And I'm your social worker." Holy God, is it Tuesday already!? Thankfully
no, it's Scottish reverb kings Glasvegas with a track that will be hailed as anyone's feel-good hit of the summer. The Jesus & Mary Chain comparisons are obvious, but these guys are very much a grim, depressing proposition in their own right.

THE KOOKS
Shine On
Virgin
**
This, on the other hand, could be described as the feel-good hit of the summer - but only if that summer is 1975 and you're trapped in a never-ending episode of The Nancy Drew Mysteries. About as
dangerous as a box of Jaffa Cakes.

KATY PERRY
I Kissed a Girl
Capitol
***
Just in case the title doesn't spell it out clearly enough, the US pop sensation spends the entire video reclining on a bed stroking a cat. Very subtle. What makes it even more amusing is word that Katy was once better known as Christian rock sensation Katy Hudson. Genius!