Special Needs, London Paradise Bar 08/07/2003

by Holl(i)y

Special Needs are Glam ripped open and stuffed full of broken glass, jagged-edged pop with Parkinsonian jolts and jerks. A tight rat-tatting
drumbeat underpinning a cascading cacophony of searing guitars and drawling, jeering vocals, underscored by posing, howling, sneering and sewing magazines(in a literal sense). And from underneath the weight of all this rock'n'roll chicanery emerge the actual songs, pop gems taken and fused with every rock sensibility going. There's a clear and most welcome drive to Put On A SHOW, Dammit - if you're not gonna love every minute of it then why are you bothering? It's a good thing that Special Needs aim to matter to people, because if they carry on like this they won't be able to help it.