The M&G‘s reviewers once again give you the lowdown on good, and sometimes not so good, CDs on the market
Archie Bronson Outfit: Coconut (Just Music)
This three-piece from Somerset in the United Kingdom may have taken four years to release their new album, but Coconut is both dirty rock ‘n roll and killer groove combined in one cosmic slab of sound. Produced by DFA’s Tim Goldsworthy, the album is as slick as you can expect from the trio, which is not very slick at all; they are a primal garage-blues band, after all. But the crunchy guitars and pummelling, pile-driving drums have a seductive electro-bass sound underlining it all to create a visceral and quite terrifying sonic freak-out.
Wild Strawberries is manic, a wild guitar-driven number that is reminiscent of the Springbok Nude Girls at their psychedelic thrash-metal best, and You Have a Right to a Mountain Life/One up on Yourself is a chaotic tribal throwdown that sounds a lot like label mates Clinic, before it explodes after a minute and a half into a horn-heavy garage-rock tune. Hunt You Down is a more stripped-back psychedelic piece that is reminiscent of Animal Collective and Run Gospel Singer is like a Velvet Underground rocker meets a Magnetic Fields doo-wop tune. On the whole, Coconut is a gem of an album, yet it is not easy listening by any means of the imagination. Fans of Clinic and the early Flaming Lips albums should be in sonic bliss. — Lloyd Gedye
Scissor Sisters: Night Work(Universal)
New York disco pop stars Scissor Sisters, named after a girl-on-girl sex act, are on their third album now and building on the sound they’re loved for. Night Work is a glam-pop dream, an adrenaline rush of Seventies-inspired melodies and dance beats — as per usual. This album is certainly more inspired than their second, Ta-dah, which had one or two singles and not much more to offer. This album is quite specific, though — it’s a very particular taste in pop. It’s camp and takes no shame in churning out track after track of foot-tapping, floor-sliding cheesiness.
Although the single, Fire with Fire, is mediocre, the title track, Whole New Way, Running Out and Sex and Violence are the most fabulous. If there’s a problem it’s that they’re all rather similar. But pleasurable, and unashamedly so. Don’t get this album if you’re looking for variety; get it if you want a 1977 disco playlist with 21st-century production. — Ilham Rawoot
Veraz: From Joburg to Jamaica (Stormrekordz)
I am not bashing Veraz’s (Werner Ferreira) debut album From Joburg to Jamaica, but I must admit I am not entirely impressed or moved by it. Granted, the 14-track reggae disc includes songs about relevant issues like xenophobia and showing appreciation for those in your life. But I am not taken away while listening to any of the tracks because I find the album too technical, with a strict vocal formula that hardly stretches Veraz.
The disc opens with Jeppe Street Blues which, according to Veraz, highlights some of the “trials and tribulations of fast-paced life in the city”. The second track talks of how the world would stand still without the ghetto. This I find difficult to grasp because most of the people I know who live in the ghetto want to get out. Nine of the tracks were written by Veraz and the other five are Bob Marley medleys and a song by Jimmy Cliff. Unfortunately there is only one song that stands out for me and that’s Ride Natty Ride, originally by Marley. — Karabo Keepile