Singles o' the Week

Even after ripping a Hendrixesque solo in the middle of a crowded street, the man could not attract a cab.

Muse

Supermassive Black Hole (Warner)

The best thing about Supermassive Black Hole is the fact that it will likely drive to tears Muse’s legion of pouty-faced, pseudo-goth fans, who drew such catharsis from the overwrought baroque angst of the band’s Absolution album. 

Supermassive Black Hole sees the band doing quite a cool disco-rock thing, with Bellamy’s falsetto vocals sounding strangely less annoying than in their natural register.

The rumbling fuzz bass provides a nice contradiction to the overtones of funk, whilst the Queen-esque harmonies add a welcome sense of tongue-in-cheek, whether intentional or not. And the simple, incendiary guitar fuzz of b-side Crying Shame evokes only pleasant memories of the band’s killer Showbiz debut.

Kid Confucius

Last Straw (Brighton Boulevard)

Kid Confucius’ Last Straw could almost single-handedly represent the evolution and maturation of Aussie hip-hop, a stirring, gospel-infused soul number that sounds like it originated in Atlanta rather than the streets of Sydney. It’s a swinging, hand-clapping anthem, skittering keys dancing above a swelling bass-line, all propelled by the infectiously smooth vocals of Rob Hezkial. 2006, it would seem, may be the year Aussie hip-hop finally and fully discovers its own, bling-free voice.

Ultimo

Tonight (ITrecords)

It’s a pity the Mercury Lounge isn’t around any more, as it’s possible the only venue in Melbourne that could have done justice to Ultimo’s beige brand of polo-shirt rock. Possessing all the soul of an after-work-drinks cover band, these guys still look destined for big things in the realm of television promotions, corporate events and Austereo. And these, of course, are not the reasons God invented music.

Nizlopi

JCB Song (Liberator Music)

An acoustic tune written by a grown man about riding in his dad’s truck as a five-year-old may sound like a bad idea, but in the hands of UK duo Nizlopi, it’s all rather endearing and sweet. A massive hit in their homeland, the simple folk-pop of JCB Song sees vocalist Luke Concannon recount his days of escaping from school to hang out with his dad, who we are led to believe was either BA Baracus or Bruce Lee. Whilst the story is utterly personal, its themes of fantasy and the simple pleasures of childhood speak a timely universality in a cynical and disposable pop atmosphere.

Placebo

Infra-Red (EMI)

The industrial electronic machinations which propel Infra-Red seme to work well for Placebo, which make you wonder why precisely they are yet to fully explore this sonic path. You always know what to expect with Brian Molko, who seems to own the copyright to bitchy revenge tunes. The point-of-difference here lies in the heady wall-of-sound which envelops his voice, with an insistent, ascending riff adding the kind of urgency which befits the lyric, “Forget your running/I will find you”. You just wonder at what point Brian himself is going to get over this whole black-hearted-ambiguous-sexuality shtick. Isn’t he, like, 35 now?

Robbie Williams

Sin Sin Sin (EMI)

Aww, I like it when Robbie’s being, y’know, controversial and stuff! Cos, y’know, he’s the pop star it’s OK to like! That’s still correct, isn’t it? Anyway, Sin Sin Sin is stock-standard synth-pop, soaring strings, etc., though the clip featuring a satin-clothed Robbie acting as a guru to a harem of pregnant young women goes some way to make up for the uninspiring soundtrack.

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Young And Restless

Satan (Independent)

Satan is causing confliction. It (a) wants to rock for the sake of wanting to rock, its  (b) post-hardcore, dance-punk thing screams ‘trendy’, (c) the band themselves are too pretty, and (d) name-dropping Satan is kind of lazy. But at the same time, it (a) does indeed rock, and to a great extent, there are (b) enough ear-melting vocal exhortations and incendiary guitar malfuntionisms to transcend trend, (c) pretty people are humans too, and there’s (d) nothing wrong with occasional laziness. Canberra band Young and Restless have created a strange beast in this, their tribute to the beast. It’s a female-fronted, cymbal-heavy something–core, lo-fi sonic attack, an assault on the senses, including, it would seem, common sense.