Sunday Sun Stereo

Apr 13 2008 By Sunday Sun

NIZLOPI — MAKE IT HAPPEN (FDM): With recent advances in digital recording technology, there can’t be many bands left who choose to lay their tracks down on two-inch tape. But that’s what Nizlopi have done with this, their first full album since 2004. With Make It Happen, Nizlopi prove that feel-good is something that they do very well indeed. The effect is that of a pair of happy, middle- class hippies having a crack at busking reggae songs, with some human beat-boxing and gospel-style vocals thrown in. The poet Benjamin Zephaniah provides a spoken intro on England Up Rise, imploring us all to beat the system by growing our own food and making clothes from hemp. Maybe Nizlopi won’t change the world but, with Make It Happen, they should get a few Brownie points for trying.

ELBOW — THE SELDOM SEEN KID (Fiction): A friend of mine once described Elbow as “The Coldplay that it’s OK to like”. He has a point. The Seldom Seen Kid sees Elbow ruminating on life’s losses. Love, death and divorce are all looked at. Sounds grim on paper but beautiful in the ears. The way in which The Bones Of You gently fades away to an almost inaudible clarinet softly playing Gershwin’s Summertime is just lovely, and if the opening line, “I’ve been working on a cocktail called Grounds For Divorce” doesn’t make you laugh out loud, you should ask for a refund. Now, on what must be at least their fourth label, Elbow have had a tougher career than many bands, but The Seldom Seen Kid shows that all of the knocks haven’t affected their ability to write beguiling, bewitching songs.

SMOOSH — FREE TO STAY (Barsuk): I’m generally not one for quoting from the blurb that comes with new releases, but Smoosh’s blurb speaks volumes: “Smoosh are two sisters and best friends, totally psyched to be jamming together, and totally psyched to share it with you”. Sisters Asya and Chloe are 15 and 13-years-old, but don’t think that means this album is full of irritating pop tunes . . . Smoosh are cool kids, and the NME have recently called them “The hottest new band in the US underground”. The songs on Free To Stay are generally jaunty, piano-led numbers with some rather interesting time-changes going on. Rock Song cheekily sneaks in a bit of Smells Like Teen Spirit over a classic 1980s synthesiser riff, while Clap On reminded me of Tori Amos quite a bit.