Grant-Lee Phillips - Ninteeneighties (Cooking Vinyl) 26/06/06

T: Given that I was just enraged by an album of cover versions of my favourite songs a few moments ago, you might expect a devoted Pixies fan to foam at the mouth and start spitting blood when I learnt that the opening track here was a reworking of the Boston band's "Wave of Mutilation", but far from it. It's actually a very enjoyable, rather windswept acoustic version, and Phillips continues with a similar vain throughout the rest of the album - a selection of covers of his favourite songs of the eighties. He's certainly chosen well and he does every track a great deal of justice. It's evident that Grant is passionate about music and dearly loves every one of these songs, and as a result he comes out smelling of roses. A sound album.

N: I like when an artist gives us a glimpse beneath a facade, and allows listeners in this case to hear music that influences passage. Likewise, a huge amount of respect for an artist that had already earnt this. 8/10

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Ronnie Wood - Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion (EMI) 26/06/2006

T: Ah, a hark back to the legendary musician's pre-stamp collecting days, back when he was a true "rock star". It has to be said, a lot of his solo stuff is better than it was ever given credit for - some laid back sunbathers and others real rocky ravers - so it's nice to see it all lovingly displayed on the first of this two disc set. Of course, his work with The Faces and Rod Stewart is better known and this, along with other bands The Birds, The Creation and the Jeff Beck Group, is included on disc two. It's a comprehensive look back at an illustrious career that you can't help being impressed by.

N: Nuff said. I'm just surprised that the famous image on Ronnie with fag in mouth was reduced to the reverse of the sleeve! 9/10

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Various Artists - Roadtrip: Road To Nowhere (Petrol Records) 19/06/2006

Released on Petrol Records, a label led by Aussie music exec Chris Murphy (the man who led INXS to superstardom) with the mission statement of releasing "meticulously styled and sequenced albums" featuring music that undoubtedly still has miles on their clock to spare. Roadtrip: Road To Nowhere is the first Petrol Records release here in the UK.

T: (after yelling profanities at the stereo and trying to be calmed by Nick): Ok, I know what you're saying - the artists here deserve credit for suitably changing all these songs enough to be able to merit being called a cover version. I'm sorry though, there's something deeply sinister and unutterably galling about hearing some of your all time favourite tracks being butchered and spewed out as throwaway pop.

N: I hear what you're saying, but I think my opening comment regarding the miles these songs still have on their clocks was a valid one. These are great songs, and if artists wish to bring their own interpretations to the table, then so be it. But I also hear your comment made with regard to their sinister nature, but this is an inevitable course for some of...what I think we can agree are...some of the greatest songs. They certainly fill their remit, although a little too highly polished, I'll agree is their "sinister" undertone. Maybe even heartless.

T: So you liked Will Young's "Light My Fire" then did you? And you'd be happy if Westlife had a hit with their version of Chapterhouse's "Pearl"?

N: You KNOW I wouldn't. I think it's the producer that's the star here, rather than the artist. 5/10

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The Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere (Polydor) 19/06/2006

T: There aren't TOO many bands these days that inspire me to go out and actually PAY for their albums rather than blagging them, but I was intrigued to hear The Automatic's debut long player so my tightarse tendencies had to go out the window there. My initial concern was that, as on previous singles "Monster" and "Recover", they were going to sound exactly like the Gang of Four throughout. I'm not denying the genius of the latter band but I don't like the idea of a band being copyists. Luckily, the Welshmen have firmly found their feet and bellow some superbly infectious tunes out at you in what is without doubt a summer record. "Lost at Home" is the standout track for me, and I'd be very surprised if these guys didn't become regular visitors of the upper echelons of the charts very soon indeed.

N: Do we really need to venture much further than the second track here, and apply "repeat" to it? "Raoul" is a wizard of a tune, possessing all the hooks and chantability that bands crave. For a band still in their teenage years, have a phenomenal future ahead of them if they choose to take it. 8/10

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Fatboy Slim - Why Try Harder: the Greatest Hits (Skint Records) 19/06/2006

T: You know all these tracks already. As you'll be aware, he's released some stormers in his time, along with a few lesser glories. "Weapon of Choice" is the pick of the bunch for me, but you can make your own mind up and I need muse over proceedings here no longer.

N: A set of eighteen songs that illustrate just how much of an impact Norman Cook made on the UK dance music scene. hell, music scene per se. And as I learnt recently, quite unintentionally. And well, the husband of the daughter of Johnny Ball - a man, who taught most of us in our thirties how to count.

T: I was actually only about six.

N: Yes Tone, but if you weren't in your thirties, you probably wouldn't have even heasrd of Johnny Ball! 8/10

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The Divine Comedy - Victory for the Comic Muse (Parlophone) 19/06/06

T: In terms of success, The Divine Comedy have really still to fulfil their potential, which is a shame, because they've been churning out quality stuff consistently since they began. This would appear to be no exception, and on first listen, I must confess I think this has the makings of being their finest hour. All teenage boys can relate to the first track - I know something I was deeply concerned about at that stage in my life is that i desperately didn't want "To Die a Virgin". Neil Hannon really is the Royalty of songwriters and he proves it over and over again on yet another perfect pop album.

N: Neil Hannon is one of my favoured songwriters, and occasionally reminds me of the character Rob Newman once created, adorned in smoking jacket, and making less than veiled references to the darker side of teenage sex. Starting off with the already referenced "To Die a Virgin", sets the pace for another fantastic set of songs, and how many of us remember the mysterious world that was created by Arthur C Clarke, paving the way for one of ITV's digital channels to give the show another airing. 9/10

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Frank Black – Fast Man Raider Man (Cooking Vinyl) 19/06/2006

There are peaks and troughs in every artist’s career. I find it alarming though – and I feel dirty saying it – that Frank Black has chosen to release an album that is patchier than a Johnny Kidd impersonators’ convention.
It all starts off well enough; indeed, “If Your Poison Gets You” kicks off proceedings as though yet another bona fide classic is to be heralded, and there are at least a clutch of other tracks from the inset that are worthy of inclusion. “Johnny Barleycorn” harks back to the vocal harmonising that was used to such great effect on “Is She Weird?” and “Fast Man” is reminiscent of Van Morrison at his laid back best.
Soon though, we are hit with a rather pointless version of “Dirty Old Town” and then the unthinkable happens – Frank Black goes dull. I can honestly say that “Seven Days” is possibly the most lifeless song I’ve heard the great man put out. No hang on a minute, make that one of the most lifeless songs by ANYONE.

It’s hard to be over critical because Black has chosen, bravely, to release a double CD of 27 tracks, of which about a baker’s dozen of them are absolute gems, which would have made a damn fine album in their own right. It’s just that the remaining tracks seem so lacklustre that they have me scratching my head searching for reasons why they were even recorded, let alone put out on CD. A case in point is the woeful “Sad Old World” which sounds alarmingly like Mud’s “Lonely This Christmas”, complete with cheesy spoken vocal at one point!

I want to focus on the positives now though. Frank shows he DOES in fact still have what it takes on moments of pure genius like “I’m Not Dead (I’m In Nashville)”, the rather more ferocious alt country of “Elijah”, the stupendously brilliant “Dog Sleep” and the disturbingly titled rocker “Kiss My Ring”.

As a lifelong Pixies fan and all things Frank, I have to confess that “Fast Man Raider Man” is something of a slight disappointment, but there’s enough here to warrant my faith being left intact. This will never be looked upon as a career pinnacle, although it could well have been with a major cull of the plodders. 6/10

Tone E

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Lucinda Sieger - Silver Life (Elsewhen) 12/06/2006

T: Lucinda has been in demand for a while now, having worked with members of both Leftfield and Bronski Beat, and she recently appeared with Ardal O'Hanlon and The Simpsons' Harry Shearer on Swedish TV. All of this hides the fact that her music is as exciting as a trip to the post office.

N: Unfortunately, Lucinda appears to have written music for ladies watching "Loose Women" and devoid of anything more interesting than the ironing to look forward to. I know that sounds reaslly sexist, but really this is just too nice to inspire anything more exciting...than the ironing to look forward to. 2/10

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The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High (Fiction/Polydor) 12/06/2006

T: I think the Grates have created a new style of music with the opening track, "I Won't Survive" - gramophone grunge! Honestly, it's like an old thirties tune slammed up against the wall and gang raped by Clockwork Orange style Kurt Cobain lookalikes. The rest of the album ranges from Hazel O'Connor on amphetamines to a slightly irritable Justine Frieschmann. Fascinating enough, even when it sounds like Bow Wow Wow, but it's difficult not to get a headache listening to it!

N: "I Won't Survive", the opening gambit on this album, is horrible. Absolutely horrible. A childish bash as described earlier. Fortunately the rest of the album doesn't compare, and if anyone suggests this band has McClarenesque punk pretensiions, I'd have to agree...

T: Actually I did...

N: Oh you did?! Well that's ok then. Possibly the lovechild of Cobain and Lwin. 7/10

Put web site here

Ed Harcourt - The Beautiful Lie (Heavenly) 05/06/2006

T: It's amazing to think that Ed Harcourt is still only 28 years old. He seems to have been around for years, and his music has, in the past, been so sophisticated that you would expect him to be in his forties by now at least. "The Beautiful Lie" holds a mouth watering menu of delights, particularly the misleading quirkiness of "Visit from the Dead Dog" and the Rufus Wainwright like "You Only Call Me When You're Drunk". This is an album which, I'm sure, if you persevered with it for any length of time, could well establish itself at the back of your mind as a future favourite. Marvellously scaffolded, with oodles of emotion, Ed Harcourt has built his reputation on compositions like these, but has bettered even them with his new release.

N: Tim and Jeff Buckley come to mind, upon listening to this album. Ed Harcourt certainly writes songs of timeless fashion. i can see where YOU are coming from when you reference future favourites with regard to this album. This is another set of strong compositions that ultimately warrant their place in anyone's record collection. 9/10

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Hanoi Rocks - Another Hostile Takeover (Demolition Records) 05/06/2006

N: For a band exhumed from the dirge of post seventies rock, a la early 1980s, Hanoi Rocks don't actually sound as bad as they might today look.

T: True. I realise this Finnish band are highly regarded amongst their contemporaries, and that they influenced a whole host of bands to pick up their guitars, most notably Guns 'n' Roses, but I have to be honest, I've never really "got" the Paradise City boys and none of those bands are ones I care too much about. Having said all that, this album isn't all screechy guitars and snarled lyrics, and "The Devil In You", along with the more bluesy or rockabilly numbers, are actually quite appealing. It's never going to scream "Buy Me" in earnest at me, but if I picked up s hitch-hiker who insisted on playing Hanoi Rocks at full pelt, I wouldn't be too opposed to the idea. Especially if she had nice legs...

N: Musically, structures are intact, and tell of a time served background in music, although they do, at times, veer into the field of "party band" which I feel does undo some of my earlier comments. 6/10

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Moneen – The Red Tree (Vagrant) 05/06/2006

It would be totally unfair of me to dismiss Moneen as an “emo” band, as it becomes clear at regular intervals that they are capable of far greater things. The blazing track that is “The Frightening Reality of the Fact That We Will All Have To Grow Up and Settle Down One Day” is an indication that there are few bands more adept at musical emotional blackmail, whereas “This Is All Bigger Than Me” is a reminder that lush, understated ballads are performed by this band just as effectively. Indeed, it’s only when Kenny Bridges slips into Chris Martinesque (isn’t he an Argentinian footballer?) vocal traps that the whole thing falls foul of this listener’s ear, which is strange because I have no problem with Coldplay at all!

Anyway, if you’re a fan of the “emo” genre, you’ll absolutely adore this group, and if you’re not, there’s still enough different about Moneen for you to at least give them a manly bear hug if nothing else. 7/10

Tone E

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Scritti Politti - White Bread Black Beer (Rough Trade) 05/06/2006

From the moment the sultry strains of the latest single 'Boom Boom Bap' cried out, Green Gartside's Scritti Polliti have once again got me romancing cupid. Well alright to be honest it took half a listen and being stuck in front of my desk on a hot (very hot) June day, but that's no bad thing.

1984 was the year when Scritti Politti finally found their market (thanks to a deal with Virgin Records) and with the release of the totally left-field 'Cupid and Psyche '85', a mainstream market dipped their toes into the water, although not always rewarding the artist in a way which he deserved (UK side of the Atlantic anyway). After an email announcing Gartside's return after 7 years and an emphatic "It's awesome..." from his press agent wetted my appetite, further investigation was required and although this initial scoring may've been weighted, it wasn't wrong.

My earlier caution may've been down to the fact I'd not listened to Scritti Politti for sometime and feel that new comers to their sound may find that reservation could be their first reaction, but wait, a wealth of warm sounds awaits if approached with an open mind. As for 'older comers', those who remember 'Wood Beez...', 'Absolute' and even 'Asylums..' first time round, will find they are greeting an old friend and Gartside's voice is still indeed one that has no "comparable" competition.

Behind Green's vocal and lyrics that play on an affluent canvas, they at times display a darker side to their author's muse. "...hold my fucking hands...", from the song 'Cooking' and others displayed on numbers like 'Mrs Hughes', which present a similarly macabre nature (don't worry, a transcript is available in the booklet supplied). Familiar synthesized strains fill the musical stage and are backed by trademark rhythms, which do in part share a similarity with former Prefab Sprout front man Paddy McAloon at times, I reference the song 'Dr Abernathy' in particular and surely the next single. But back to those lyrics, they are overwhelming, referencing another master of the written word John Lennon on 'Petrocoadollar', sharing the same natural genius of the master songsmith.

The 14 tunes that are offered here are like the smooth, expensive coffee that we first drank in those chic boutiques at the time of the new wealth in the 1980's. Now's the right time for Scritti Politti to make a new mark on our lives, to venture into our comfortable sitting rooms and as we sip chardonnay and merlot, remember that this is as much a life style choice, as the clothes we wear, the bars we drink at and the label Rough Trade Records, that the artist returns to after 24 years. 9/10

Nick James

But don't just take my word for it, take the opportunity of joining the listening party and hearing the album in its entirety at our very own audio pop-up (and we're not kidding, all that's required is Real Player or Windows Media).

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New Amsterdams – Story Like a Scar (Vagrant) 05/06/2006

Get Up Kids’ frontman Matt Pryor releases a fine new album with his more laid back outfit The New Amsterdams, and you can’t help being touched by it. It’s like having the sun shining not only on your back, but also somehow on your intestines and, most of all, your heart.

Some of the tracks here are utterly beautiful, and that translucent splendour is even further enhanced by the refreshing utilisation of banjos, brushed drums and lap steel, amongst other seldom heard instruments.

There’s not really much else to say about it – it’s just a lovely warm album which occasionally sounds like it could have been written by Difford and Tilbrook. “Story Like a Scar” is most definitely a feelgood album of the highest order. 8/10

Tone E

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[DVD] Hayseed Dixie – No Sleep Til Liverpool (Cooking Vinyl) 05/06/2006

So the story runs thus:

A bunch of hillbillies are biding their time doing nothing except chilling out on the potch over a few cold beers when a complete stranger comes hurtling by, way over the speed limit, and crashes his car into a ditch. The boys rush to see what’s going on, and said stranger hotfoots it away, startled. In the abandoned car, they find a selection of vinyl AC/DC albums and decide to learn them in their own inimitable style.

That’s Hayseed Dixie’s story and they’re sticking to it, as you’ll see when you access the “Extras” menu of the DVD, and you can’t help feeling, at that stage, that it’s all a bit Spinal Tap. Makes you wonder whether the band are, in fact, actors after all. I mean, quite clearly they adopt personas for their show and those characters are very easy to relate to, but one thing’s for sure – whether they’re fakes or the real McCoy, them there good ole mountain boys sure packs a punch in the ole virtuoso stakes!

On to the main “live” section of the DVD, and it’s pretty much what you’d expect – a hugely entertaining selection of countrified versions of rock classics mixed with the Dixies’ take on traditional folk tunes, the odd original composition here and there, excessive drinking and a bunch of very bad jokes – I mean, come on, when Barley Scotch announces that the first question they are invariably asked in interviews is “Do we like Bush?”, it doesn’t take a genius to work out which way the conversation is about to go. There are several abundantly predictable moments like this, but this is endearing rather than irksome and it’s great to see a band working a crowd like these guys do.

Anyway, after belting through such celebrated standards as “Ace of Spades”, “Walk This Way”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” and Outkast’s “Roses”, as well as another sixteen tunes (you sure get your money’s worth!), they finish with a rousing version of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”. Now, I’ve yet to hear a version of the latter song that beats the one by The Wonder Stuff and Spirit of the West, but this one damn near runs it close.

All in all, the entertainment value here is through the roof. 9/10

Tone E

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Cracker - Greenland (Cooking Vinyl) 05/06/2006

A "difficult album" to write according to the band themselves, and as a result it's a pretty dark one too...

T: I would have been inclined to say this was a more carefree album initially - a more chilled out album than we've been previously accustomed with Cracker, but listen deeper to the lyrical content here and it's clear that I was mistaken. A brooding set of songs that are infinitely listenable at any time of the day.

N: With the opening track I tended to feel wallowed in a dirge of steel guitar, and was set to hit stop before "Maggie" kicked in and lifted this album into a park aka Greg Dulli and drives the album thorugh the remaining twelve tracks in fine fashion, never once looking back. Perhaps better than I've ever heard them before and finally making a fan of this one cynic, I think this could well be the straw that broke the 'Craker' - so as to speak. 8/10

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Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm (Vagrant) 29/05/2006

That’s it – I reckon I’ve officially reached “old man” status now, because while I acknowledge this as a 300mph juggernaut ride, the words “complete racket” tend to cross my mind a little too often for my liking…

The band have previously toured with the likes of Green Day and Blink 182, and if these two bands were plasticine, you could roll them together with the Morph equivalent of System of a Down and you’re pretty much there with the music. It’s full of big, soaring choruses and if you like that kind of thing I will concede that these boys may well be primed for your personal boat floating. Chris Conley’s voice is a little too whiney for a palate such as mine however, so I doubt if this will be returning to my CD player much in the foreseeable future. As a more positive footnote though – I really like “Eulogy”! 5/10

Tone E

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Thursday – A City By the Light Divided (Hassle) 29/05/2006

There’s something quite “other worldly” about this album. Parts of it make you feel like you’re having an out of body experience during the witching hours, and never is this more the case than on the excellent opener, “The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out (of Control).

A blizzard of early Cure like vocal echo merges with a cavalcade of anxious, urgent guitars and the result is something akin to Robert Smith fronting Swervedriver after taking copious amounts of Speed.

The moodier tracks create a much needed ambience – albeit a very intense kind – and pave the way for the huge swirling epics that seem to be a staple of the album. Phew. I don’t feel quite so old now! 8/10

Tone E

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Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk - Osaka Popstar and the American Legends of Punk (Rykodisc) 23/05/2006

Fronted by long-time Misfits collaborator John Cafiero and featuring members of such luminary stars of yesteryear as Black Flag, The Ramones and Richard Hell & The Voidoids, this is an attempt to convince the public that punk is truly not dead...

T: You take members from some of the greatest American bands of all time, stick 'em all in a room together with a bunch of instruments and what SHOULD happen is that they make an astonishing album full of passion, guts and musical integrity. That's pretty much what you DO get, but I'd say it's more a load of "great" songs than "astonishing" ones. Still, it's nice to see that, unlike some of those star studded Hollywood turkeys, the musical version of a "punk supergroup" works rather well, even if it comes out sounding more like seventies rock than punk. Nice.

N: With a palate of fuzzy guitar and an image of George Clooney (a la "O' Brother Where Art Thou?" come track 4), Tone has hit the nail on the head (again) when he describes "seventies rock", but turn the overdrive up on any rock track and the line will blur. 9/10

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Sign – Thank God For Silence (R&R Music) 22/05/2006

The first thing that struck me, upon seeing their picture, was just how much they look like those things that pop out of a machine randomly at the fairground – you know, the ones you’re supposed to attack with a big fluffy mallet or some other similar contraption.
Anyway, it’s impossible to banish this vision from your mind once it’s been implanted there, and to be honest, I’m quite grateful for that, because otherwise this brand of “rock” music comes across cheesier than a Swiss fondue party.

It DOES get better, to be fair, and some tracks – such as “A Little Bit” for example – are at the very least toe tappingly listenable, but I’ve never been a huge fan of vocalists who go overboard in their efforts to convince you they’re being strangled. 4/10

Tone E

web site - myspace

Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself (White Rabbit Records) 15/05/2006

She's massive in the States, this girl, and it's more than feasible that her success across the pond will be emulated here in the UK by the time the year's out...

T: But will it? I can't help thinking that this stuff WOULD appeal more to an American audience than a British one. The Guardian already has her tagged as "the first download diva" due to the amount of folk dumping her onto their hard disks over here so maybe I'm misguided in my assumption there. To me though, she sounds like a slightly less commercial version of Pink. Both the intros of the first two tracks on the album sound like former UK hit singles - Justin Hayward's "Forever Autumn" and Babybird's "You're Gorgeous" - but take on a life of their own after a few seconds, and while this is not the kind of stuff I would choose to listen to, I can see that she certainly holds an appeal that MAY lead to wordwide success. It just remains to be seen really.

N: Tori Amos blurs with Alanis Morissette when we come to Imogen Heap. Quirky arrangements which descend into gutsy rock patterns, but with the subtlety of a butterfly. On first hearing her "I Megaphone" album a few years back, I can still hear what attracted me in the first place. The arrangemets that are like folded lace, and lyrics that spur the conventional, but even to mention Pink in the same sentence as this artist is blasphemy.

T: I'm sorry, it just sounds like her kind of thing to me! That wasn't meant to be a putdown though - out of all the current "pop" artists, I think Pink is one of the better ones anyway...

N: You just like the way she dresses.

T: Ugh. Pierced nipples do nothing for me thanks.

N. And you think people are going to belive that. 7/10

web site - my space

Various - Scrubs (o.s.t. volume 2) (Hollywood Records) 09/05/2006

A download only release of this soundtrack taken from popular TV show Scrubs, well it's fairly obvious where this is destined. Normally I'd hate compilations and from a TV show, well really is there anything more lame? On this occasion and as we are now in the 21st Century, with a host of electronic devices to fill, at our hands, the compilation has finally come of age. No more double CD's to scratch and even further back double cassettes to lose down the back of the sofa! No, in this format all the listener has to worry about is a corrupting of the data and back this up and you don't even have to concern yourself about this.

First listen of this compilation proved a little awkward, I felt that although these tracks may've proved great in illustrating a series of scenes in this on screen comedy, as an album they fitted uncomfortably. However this was in the car, played through headphones and placed in a space between the ears, I found this did in fact work far better than I would have thought. Even as a sampler for the 14 groups featured, I would hope that listeners curriosity might get the better and send them out to discover a musical climate of great sounds.

Apart from the popcorn scenes that Scrubs features and the characters that I have certainly grown to love, it is the music that drives the series along, however unwittingly we may belive this to be. So in essence Scrubs - o.s.t. vol. 2 is most cetainly a hit in a climate of iPods and mp3 enabled mobile phones and Scrubs musical advisors have won out in their picking of such a diverse musical palate, from The Mavericks to Joseph Arthur, The Polyphonic Spree to Citizen Cope and much more in between. 7/10

link to iTunes - only available at the US store

Forest Giants - Welcome To The Mid-West (Cherryade Records) 08/05/2006

With such a solid musical heritage, Forest Giants are not someone you easily pass by without your jaw dropping, leaden like in disbelif of what you are hearing. Featuring 2 former members of "cult legends" Beatnik Filmstars, a band who recorded no less than 5 Peel sessions and toured with such luminaries as The Flaming Lips and Superchunk, Forest Giants are a band hailing from Bristol and just for good measure include a former Blue Areoplane.

This band appear as a shining light as I sit here in the early 21st century, reminding me of the best in early nineties indie and this is by no way a put down of what this band are kicking out. It's all there, from My Bloody Valentine to the melodic rhythms of Lush, a lo-fidelity wall of sound that cries out to be heard, again and again... and again.

Described as Bristol's best kept secret, this is something that is not going to be the case for long, or the thought police will have to go battering down walls to ensure that these guys are heard. Love them! 10/10

Nick James

web site - my space - download

Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere (Vertigo) 08/05/2006

As a casual observer, you'd be forgiven for believing that with the very public departure of Pete Doherty from The Libertines, that that was that for Carl Barat and the remaining members. Far from it in fact and if you'd liked The Libertines first 2 albums, then you'll no doubt be smitten by what I will casually oberserve as being their third! A band's music is more than just their name and even though this may have been a hard fought issue at one point, revived and rejuvenated, The Dirty Pretty Things have risen, phoenix like from the ashes of their former incarnation and presentated 12 new songs, over a rather megre 36 minutes in which they will blow you away. 9/10

Nick James

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