Jimmy Eat World… Decent band name, at least
The Rest of This Week’s Singles: Jimmy Eat World, Muse, Miles Kane and more!
Published on June 6th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams
…and now here are the rest of this week’s singles…
Jimmy Eat World – “I Will Steal You Back”
In the mood for a really underwhelming comeback? Check out this brooding, dirgey, chugging slice of meh from the Arizona pop punk types. We really can’t see any need for this at all.
“Funny how the smallest lie / Might live a million times” notes Jim Adkins, unwittingly reflecting just how often we feel like we’ve heard this basic tune before. No doubt it’ll get gobbled up gleefully by an unquestioning fan base, though.
File alongside Green Day and Alkaline Trio.
Rocksucker says: One and a Half Quails out of Five!
Kid A – “BB Bleu”
Yes yes, disorienting synths with staggered digi-beat, desolate production and sultry, heavily reverbed vocals. How very clever and modern, maybe someone could use it to soundtrack an art fair along with some Grimes?
Bit harsh, perhaps, but a basic understanding of Logic doth not a musician make.
Rocksucker says: Two and a Half Quails out of Five!
Miles Kane – “Don’t Forget Who You Are”
Kane could do with taking some of his own advice, as he appears to believe he is The Coral on this one. There’s even a big “la la la” refrain in the chorus just for extra NME brownie points: textbook.
“Raw energy”, “anthemic”, “everyman” blah blah ****ing blah. Bring back Embrace. (Only joking; please don’t bring back Embrace.)
Rocksucker says: One and a Half Quails out of Five!
Misty Miller – “Next to You”
Or Windy Miller, as she is when she’s standing on a windswept overpass in the video. The song itself threatens to settle into various niches but does a rather splendid job of keeping us guessing with all sorts of twists and turns, all with a rocky edge to bludgeon our initial cynicism. Good stuff.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
Muse – “Panic Station”
Watching Muse’s latest state-of-the-art video makes us shudder to think how much money is being thrown at such a limited band. Not limited in terms of musicianship – clearly, Muse are highly skilled in this regard – but they’ve got a damn sight fewer good ideas left than they seem to believe.
For all his undoubted talent, Matt Bellamy and co. lack the wit and ingenuity to do or say anything truly relevant. Compare this to, say, one of Blur or Pulp’s classic singles from the ’90s, and lament how little today’s big bands tell us about our lives.
How heartwarming, though, to see the band ‘having a laugh’ while wasting whosoever’s dosh on bringing this so-so disco-funk workout to visual life.
Rocksucker says: Two Quails out of Five!
Phillip Phillips – “Home”
This week’s sensitive white guy with acoustic guitar is Phillip Phillips, whose name is by far the most interesting thing about him. Otherwise, it’s Badly Drawn Boy for people who find Badly Drawn Boy too edgy.
Sixteen million YouTube hits?? Are you kidding, world??
Rocksucker says: Two Quails out of Five!
Run the Jewels feat. Big Boi – “Banana Clipper”
“Producer gave me a beat, said it’s the beat of the year / I said, ‘EL-P didn’t do it / So get the fuck outta here'”: line of the week from Killer Mike, there.
Run the Jewels is Killer Mike’s tandem vehicle with the aforementioned EL-P and, while there’s little of outstanding originality here, it’s a welcome blast of fun, attitude and technique featuring the great Big Boi, so it’s definitely amongst this week’s better singles.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
The Chapman Family – “This One’s for Love”
Starts out sounding pretty interesting but gets quite boring very quickly. Overfamiliar voice, overearnest lyricism, smart The National-style production, yadda yadda yadda… “This One’s for Love” is entirely presentable but it doesnt half leave the imagination hanging.
Rocksucker says: Two Quails out of Five!
The New Union – “Staying Friends”
Some songs are so dull we just pass over them. This, however, is so expertly dull that we just had to include it. It makes an art form out of dull. Dull-pop? It’ll catch on, you know.
Altogether now: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Once more, with feeling!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Rocksucker says: Too dull for a score!
…
Two Door Cinema Club – “Handshake”
We were about to fall into an irreversible, boredom-induced coma until someone in the video cut the band’s heads off and started bowling with them. That certainly livened things up.
Otherwise: zzzzzzzzz. And you can quote us on that.
Rocksucker says: One and a Half Quails out of Five!
TV Colours – “Beverly”
Like “Kung Fu” by Ash, but a lot less fun and good.
Rocksucker says: Two Quails out of Five!
Trentemøller feat. Jonny Pierce of The Drums – “Never Stop Running “
Yer man Anders Trentemøller remains a reliable source of wibbly, otherworldly electronics; alas, his noises are dragged too close for comfort towards normality by the all-too-‘normal’ voice of Pierce, whose day band The Drums make polished yet rather uninspiring adult-pop. We can only hope that the rest of Trentemøller’s forthcoming new album either eschews guest vocalists or selects them more discerningly.
Rocksucker says: Two 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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