Eoin Butler'sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
MAX TUNDRA
Will Get Fooled Again
Domino
****
On the first single from his snappily titled Parallax Error Beheads Youalbum, Max Tundra goes girl hunting on Google Image, eBay and MySpace. Er, this guy sounds like he could do with a guided tour of the internet - I could show him some waaay better sites!
KAISER CHIEFS
Never Miss a Beat
Polydor
Ricky Wilson & co have never been hugely popular with us snobby music critics. But much though it pains me to report it, the Leeds lads' comeback single does possess a certain nagging charm. Produced by Mark Ronson, Never Miss a Beatis a three-minute rant against suburban conformity. "Just like every other indie anthem in history," you scoff. True, but executed here with undeniable panache.
OASIS
I'm Outta Time
Big Brother
The way Liam Gallagher tells it, this slightly mawkish piano ballad took "nine fookin' years" to write. One wonders how much of that was spent working on the lyrics - some of them are just so dreadful they make his big brother look like Rimbaud by comparison. Still, there's something about Liam's blatant, almost child-like devotion to John Lennon that becomes rather endearing upon repeated listens.
TWINKRANES
Fizz Nor Feedback
On this seven-inch single, Dublin's TwinKranes serve up a slab of superior psychedelic garage rock (in vein of Roky Erickson's 13th Floor Elevators). Fizz Nor Feedbackworks up a thirst and just doesn't quit.
www.state.ie
BRITNEY SPEARS
Womanizer
Jive
***
According to the Los Angeles Times, the first single from the singer's Circusalbum invokes "the quick witted style of vocal groups like the Andrews Sisters". Can't say I noticed that myself, but it's good to see Britney back to herself.
SEASICK STEVE
I Started Out With Nothing (And I Still Got Most of It Left)
With his newfound ubiquity - they're advertising his album on TV now, for God's sake! - Seasick Steve is doing for homelessness what Julia Roberts did for prostitution in Pretty Woman(that is, misrepresenting it as a cute, practically desirable lifestyle choice in order to market a product for mass consumption). I don't buy it.
