Mariah Carey… That’s me girl/Miguel (we haven’t thought this one through yet)
The Rest of This Week’s Singles: Mariah Carey, Levellers, Visage and more!
Published on May 9th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams
After all, it would be plain rude of us not to give you the rest of this week’s singles…
Keys – “Innocuous Beats”
Wasn’t sure about this one at first. Decided to include it when, roughly halfway through the course of its three minutes and 36 seconds, we realised we were bopping all over the place.
Keep an ear out for this “Suffolk-based dirty funk-punk foursome”, however frustratingly ungooglable their name may be.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
The Levellers – “The Recruiting Sergeant”
“You know you shouldn’t do it / You see no reason why / It blows your mind, yeah yeah, uh huh (uh huh!)” Yeah, that was a good tune. “It’s a beautiful daaay, daaay, day!” That one too.
Before the hard core right in, we know the above paragraph doesn’t do justice to The Levellers’ enduring career. Rocksucker doesn’t really have much of an appetite for protest folk, but the video is undeniably poignant.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
Mariah Carey feat. Miguel – “#Beautiful”
No, the hash tag in’t a typo.
Initial warbling had us fearing the worst but this actually ain’t half bad: it shuffles along on a strange crunchy rhythm section and manages to avoid excessive pyrotechnics, Mariah’s yelped rainbow harmonies just about landing the right side of the pleasant/ghastly divide. Some gorgeous whistling at the end, too.
Fair play, we don’t hate this.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
The Mavericks – “Born to be Blue”
“I just want to daaance the night away / With señoritas who can sway”: remember that? This is them! Like, they’re back! Oh yeeeaaahhh!
There may not be anything ‘maverick’ about it but the melody’s got a classic, early ’60s kind of lilt to it. It doesn’t appear to be a cover, so credit goes to The Mavericks for slaying Rocksucker’s cynicism like any number of narky swamp dragons.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
Visage – “Shameless Fashion”
The “Fade to Grey” hitmakers are set to return with a new album in May, and on this evidence it’ll be vintage Visage. That may or may not be a good thing, depending on your point of view, but there are enough nice touches to this (sinister pre-chorus, delicously bendy lead guitar, commanding spoken word section) to anticipate a legitimate comeback rather than a tacky cash-in.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
See you next week, everybody!
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About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
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