Leaving Yoko Ono at the Door
Richard feels Heavenly with some spazzy math rock

The Last Republic - CCTV

Can anyone remember Justin Hawkins from The Darkness? Yes? Great! Now let him front Muse while they trip out on One Night Only. If that sounds like a terrible combination then congratulations, you got it in one!

CCTV really doesn't go anywhere - It's overproduction and reliance of synths are perfect for Radio 1 but leave it feeling cold and inhumane.



The press release proudly states that they've toured with The Levellers - well, this is proof that even the greats make mistakes.

http://www.myspace.com/thelastrepublicmusic


Mojo Fury - The Mann

I am really digging this - Mojo Fury seem to be one of the better bands which are emerging from the heavier Spazzy Math Rock scene at the moment. The comparisons to acts like Pulled Apart By Horses and Future Of The Left are fair, with their heavy distortion underpinned by melodic lines. 'The Mann' seems to really hit the spot between being raw enough to contain the bands energy and produced enough to make it easy listening - that's a skill which many producers seem to be lacking nowadays. I really hope to see these guys live at some point - I get the feeling that, although they are bloody good on record, they will blow you away live.


http://www.myspace.com/mojofuryband


Second Head - Trees

I really want to like these guys purely for the effort they've put into their promo - it's always nice to receive a well sprayed disk and a press release on anything but low cost photocopy paper. Unfortunately, since The White Stripes came blasting out of the garage rock scene ever
boy/girl combo with a guitar and a drum kit has tried to mimic their success - and most failed. Second Head are one of the more successful duos, but unfortunately I feel that it is due to them pandering to the University Hipsters of Epsom and the like. NME will lap them up, but fans of less poppy experimental rock will probably leave them alone.



Despite all this negativity, the EP does have a few enjoyable moment, but so do the majority of EP's I receive. Back to the drawing board guys - and leave Yoko Ono at the door.

http://www.myspace.com/secondheadtheband

Richard Heaven