Singles for the Week starting 19 December

Gruff Rhys
Atheist Xmas EP
(Turnstile)
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It wasn’t just the turkeys whose eyeballs were twitching nervously as Christmas swung round this year; with the global economy looking doomed, M&S adverts being hailed as “really rather moving” and the annual Cliff calendar being banned under obscenity laws (Cliff showed too much nipple this year, it has been revealed), a weird mood has wafted over us all.
Time for an honest blast of fresh air then, and as Gruff Rhys has explained in this issue’s interview, the ‘Atheist Xmas EP’ isn’t so much a blasphemous statement as a Gremlins-style piece of prankster fun, and open-armed admission that Christmas is aday celebrated –sometimes endured – by millions of non-believers.
The EP starts off by dipping Phil Spector into a barrel of radioactive sludge, with ‘Post Apocalypse Christmas’ depicting the holiday through the “half-melted eyes of a nuclear holocaust survivor”. The song clicks its Motown fingers while Gruff notes that; “even through a nuclear winter, here comes Santa on his Reindeer.”
Later the melodic pop hooks of ‘At The End Of The Line’ bring some cheer to the EP, employing the full glam rock arsenal of saxophones, Les Paul guitar solos and woozy melodies, before Gruff finally takes Elvis’ ‘It’ll Be Lonely This Christmas’ to its slightly Edgar Allen Poe conclusion with ‘Slashed Wrists This Christmas’ – a piano lament for those whose troubles cannot be healed by sausages rolls and light entertainment alone.
Ric Rawlins

Black Lips
Raw Meat
(Co-op Records)
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The old ‘Punk: because we haven’t found a fourth chord yet’ shtick used to be a rod to beat bands with. However, that was before they started using this formula for short, sharp, ear-damaging good.
‘Raw Meat’ – the latest offering from Atlanta upstarts, Black Lips – is the perfect example of why music doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective. It’s a frantic blizzard of fuzzy guitars and yelping vocals which, at a speedy one minute and forty-eight seconds, proves that the band aren’t afraid to try and out-Ramones The Ramones.
It’s fast, furious and can be listened to in the time it takes to make a cup of tea. What more could you honestly ask for?
Rory Carroll

Citizens!
True Romance
(Kitsuné)
* *

Hey! You! Yes, you! We have an exclamation mark in our name! Put us in your CD collection alongside You Say Party! We Say Die! and Panic! At the Disco. Actually, don’t bother. ‘True Romance’– for all the sounding at best like Alexis Taylor, or at worst, Johnny Robinson – is so pathologically soulless it may as well come with the instructions ‘do not resuscitate’. Romance it maybe, but best not get the tattoo done just yet, eh?
Dai Howells

Field Music
(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing.
(Memphis Industries)
* *

Field Music are difficult blighters. All their records, from 2005’s self titled debut to the ambitious ‘Measure’ in 2010 are stuffed with intriguing ideas, but you could wait an eternity for a moment that truly makes the soul sing.
To this end ‘IKTAANT’ is classic Field Music. Driven by a synth bassline reminiscent of Talking Heads’ ‘Once in a Lifetime’, it sounds like a distant cousin of the archly funky ‘Lets Write a Book’ from ‘Measure’. And yes, it’s confidently assembled and will make you smile and nod your head. Then it’ll finish and evaporate from memory, leaving you strangely unmoved.
Mark Murphy