DOWNPATRICK daredevils Ash tackle classic Bond theme! Relax, James Goldfinger (Infectious) is not an attempt at Shirley Bassey karaoke, but the brightest and most brilliant tune the Northern Irish trio has penned so far. Goldfinger burns on a slow, steady fuse, the chorus calling to mind the epic finale of The Who's Tommy, and it has just pinballed in at number five in the UK charts, vindicating Ash's recent Best Irish Rock Band award from Hot Press. This four song CD also features Get Ready, which is really a Smokey Robinson cover; the debut album is entitled 1977, which, incidentally, was the same year The spy Who Loved Me came out. Thought you'd like to know.
Manic Street Preachers reemerge with A Design For Life (Sony), their first single since the disappearance of guitarist Richey Edwards over a year ago. A strident backbeat and swelling orchestra set the tone and pace, and James Dean Bradfield's vocals ride the waves with primal passion. "We don't talk about love/We only wanna get drunk," spits Bradfield, venting his spleen on the blank designer generation. Highest new entry in the UK this week - number two with a bullet in the head.
The Cure are back with the unlucky sounding The 13th (Fiction), but Robert Smith is in playful mood on his first single in four years, tempting fate with languid, Latin rhythms and cheeky trumpets. As usual, Smith's lyrics are a dizzy, hallucinatory trip through the cluttered playground of his own subconscious, with sex and seduction lurking among the toys and teddy bears. Looks like the old Goth has still got it in him.
Sinead Lohan looks like a young Cure head, but beneath those dreadlocks lies A Woman's Heart, and To Ramona (Dara) sees the Cork singer covering a Bob Dylan song in her own Leeside lilt. Declan Sinnott's arrangements are intricately embroidered on to the track, but it still retains the texture of musty old lace. It's backed by Lohan's own composition, Did I Do The Right Thing, a pretty but somewhat over dressed ditty.
Over next door in Kerry, Christie Hennessy's I'm Going To Make It On My Own (WEA) is a cosy little duet between Christie and his daughter, Hermione Ross. It's the second taster this month from his new album, The Box, and although the father and daughter vocal combination works - well, the whole thing sounds too lovey dovey, like a theme from some old English romantic comedy.
Orbital's The Box (Internal) is taken from the techno trance group's new album, In Sides, and sounds like the theme from one of those British sci spy series of the Sixties, with ominous synth chords and kotolike keyboard runs. A few listens to this, and you'll feel like John Steed, The Prisoner and Jason King all rolled into one.
Minty sound like Romo's answer to the B-52s on That's Nice (Sugar), a completely bonkers slice of synthpop featuring Matthew Glamorre and Nicola Bowery as a glam rock George and Mildred. "God is dead," proclaims Matthew. "That's nice," replies Nicola. "Oh, p*** off!" says you.
Snap go all Arabic on Rame (Arista), but the vocals of Rukmani are the only exotic feature on this otherwise formulaic exercise in holiday resort rave.
The Nightcrawlers' Should I Ever (Fall In Love) (Arista) has a surprise in store, i.e. John Reid actually sings entire lines, verses and choruses instead of the usual endlessly repeated three second snatches of gobbledegook. Pity, really; he was more interesting when he was unintelligible.
Finally, Out Of My Hair's Safe Boy (RCA) is a bit like Babylon Zoo, only with cooler jeans and better guitar riffs. The band is based around a guy named Comfort, who looks and sounds like a Syd Barrett for the post grunge generation. Which is nice.
