Latest releases reviewed
GORILLAZ El Manana Parlophone ****
Damon's in a dreamy mood, just kicking back on a grassy knoll and floating on the clouds; but, this being a Gorillaz video, it's not long before the windmills of his mind are under attack from circling helicopters. Is this a low? No way, Jose.
GIANT DRAG This Isn't It Kickball ****
Love's a drag, reckons Annie Hardy. "You wouldn't know it if it hit you," snarls LA's latest goth-grunge-punk princess. Yeah, but we know a giant tune when it hits us right between the ears.
COLDPLAY The Hardest Part Parlophone **
The hardest part for Coldplay must be deciding which song not to release as their next mega-chartbuster. Here's the umpteenth hit off X + Y - mathematicians calculate that the album can keep yielding hit singles until 2010.
THE FADERS Look at Me Now Polydor ***
Three good-looking girls with guitars and drums, bundles of attitude and a sound somewhere between The Go-Go's and The Donnas - what's not to like? This one is a riot grrrl twist on I Will Survive, or a Sk8r Boi role-reversal.
FALL OUT BOY Dance, Dance Mercury **
It's official: the geeks and dweebs outnumber the jocks and dudes in America's high schools, and they're getting all the hot babes thanks to bands like Fall Out Boy. Now we need a jock-rocker to sing about the shame of having over-developed pecs and nerds stealing his girl.
HARD-FI Better Do Better Necessary **
The Staines massive are big stars of CCTV, MTV and every other TV, thanks to their skankin' pop tunes and liberal use of melodica. Better be careful, though: if they lose that street cred they could end up stars of daytime TV.
LUCIA EVANS Bruised But Not Broken Universal *
She's the winner of You're a Star, but instead of being set up for a fall at Eurovision, she'll probably be hyped up as the Irish Corinne Bailey Rae and set up for an even greater fall. Pity, though: this tune might even have won Eurovision.
