Artrocker Magazine’s Single Reviews for the week commencing 15th February

Ono Palindromes
The Cum EP
(Death Records)

As if it wasn't enough to have the word 'Cum' displayed prominently on the EP title, the press release also features a photo of the band dribbling white sauce out of their filthy little mouths. Get these scumbags outta my office!
The EP's pretty good, mind. Things kick off with 'Glue' (hard, fast, evil), continue with 'Laboto' (harder, faster, more evil) and proceed with 'Rich Kids Slumming' (hardest, fastest, supremely evil).
The band strut a one-way path between Sonic Youth and Future of the Left, spewing out anger and tunnelling a hole into the side of your brain like perverted earwigs. And yet it's all a good laugh, and I found myself returning time after time for just one more dose of Cum. Did I, er... say that out loud?
Ric Rawlins


The Big Pink
Velvet
(4AD)

When shoegazers stop, well, gazing at their shoes through their floppy fringes, they’ll want a record to put on while they have a cuddle with a loved one. ‘Velvet’ is that song.
The thing is – and we should probably whisper this - once you stop cuddling and delve beyond all the chugging guitar lines, atmospheric backing vocals and whooshing electronics, there seems to be a song missing.
Now, this should not be misconstrued as a trendy or controversial backlash against one of the musical success stories of 2009. It’s simply that the when you hop over the wall of sound on this particular song, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot lurking on the other side: ‘Dominos’ had a rotweiler with a bad attitude and a taste for blood; ‘Velvet’ has a goldfish that can’t even muster the strength to nibble your ankles.
Rory Carroll


Quasi
Repulsion
(Domino)

Like a grunge-style scrawny jumper being ripped apart at the seams, this single is infested with punk spirit - yet it also remembers the golden rule of pop: remember to have a fecking catchy tune.
This is the lead off single for the band's eighth album, yet strangely they sound more up for it and excited about making music than approximately 95% of everything else in our mailbag. I am confused. But happy. Catch them at Pavement's ATP.
Cindy Suzuki


Mono Taxi
How You Gonna Feel About This?
(Ciao Ketchup Recordings)

When you insert Mono Taxi's latest offering into iTunes, it comes up with a charming ditty entitled 'I'm a Raver' from the album 'Mega Body Beats'. Now, whilst we're a little sad not to be able to experience the thrilling sonic rollercoaster that a track like this would surely entail, what we instead have is a rather lovely entity in it's own right. Mono Taxi, you see, understand that you don't always have to try and re-invent the wheel; that sometimes just creating a really good pop song is enough. 'How You Gonna Feel About This?' begins in slightly twee, euro-pop fashion- like a cheerier Camera Obscura- before launching into an effervescent, strangely Flaming Lips-esque stomping chorus. It's simple but perfectly executed, and in a time where you can barely turn on the radio without being attacked by a army of Korgs, that ain't half bad in our books. Mega.
Lisa Wright


Caitlin Rose
Dead Flowers
(Names)

For someone hailing from Heartbreak County, Tennessee (not really, she’s from Nashville), young Caitlin Rose is everything you’d expect a proper country musician to be.
The beauty of country music is its ability to take the melancholy, lighten the mood with dry observations and witticisms, and then drown it in minor chord progressions and pedal steel guitars. It’s quite an art.
This EP shows that Rose has the combination down to a tee, hitting every topic from marrying a girl because she’s pregnant (‘Shotgun Wedding’) through to good ol’ alcoholism (‘Answer In One Of These Bottles’), tying everything together with a lovely version of ‘Dead Flowers’ by The Rolling Stones.
If you’re one of those country purists – and there’s at least two or three of you out there – there’s much to be enjoyed on this EP.
Rory Carroll