Eoin Butler'sguide to singles, downloads and free audiostreams
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK Summertime Interscope***
Boyzone and Take That may hog the headlines but, take my word for it, when it comes to thirty- something man-bands, the New Kids are where it's really at. In this video they've whittled Danny Wood's total screen time down to about eight seconds, but he still manages to steal the show. The guy's neck defies science - it's actually wider than his head!
THE MYSTERY JETS Half in Love with Elizabeth 679 Recordings ***
The subject of this song is, apparently, half in love with Elizabeth and half in love with you. Perhaps you'd both just call it a draw and we could leave it at that?
RIHANNA Rehab Def Jam **
So r'n'b superstar Rihanna is in rehab. But precisely what addiction is she battling? Acute parasol dependence? Chronic aversion to stopping the music? Actually, addiction here seems to be a metaphor for romantic love, and rehab a metaphor for physical separation. If I follow correctly, this makes Keith Richards cupid and Cheech & Chong's Up in Smokethe greatest love story ever told . . . No?
THE GUGGENHEIM GROTTO Fee Da Da Dee UFO Records***
The new single from this Dublin trio starts off a little bit Sign O' the Times, ends up a little bit This Mess We're In, and has a nice turn from Jenny Lindfors on backing vocals.
THE STREETS The Escapist 679 Recordings*
"All these walls were never really there/Nor the ceiling or the chair." Oh dear, Mike. Has it come to this? The first single from the new Streets album is as ponderous and rambling as the video (filmed in France) that accompanies it.
KINGS OF LEON Crawl Sony BMG**
Those Followills really have it made, don't they? They live in a big house in Nashville, where they ride quad bikes and drink beer all day and no one has a clue who the hell they are. Then every summer they up sticks to Europe and headline every festival going. The first single from their Only by the Nightalbum is as gnarly and stupefying as you'd expect.
