STYLE: Rock RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 16482-CAS368 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: Cassette Single
Reviewed by Sue Rann
Actually this is only marginally 'alternative'. The Mood Swings hover, like the Electrics, on the borders of the territory with no other satisfactory pigeon hole in which to insert them. Sorry chaps! Any way up, let's dissect the demo. "Slovex", the first song here, is a quirky number bouncing along on steel springs and making about as much sense as Peter Gabriel's "This Is The Picture"...initially silly and irritating, after a few plays it sneaks in the back door and introduces itself as an engaging if slightly cryptic friend. "Just Give Up" is a relentlessly jolly, tuneful "Dear John" letter to Lucifer, carolling gaily along on a chug-chug beat till the end when it launches into a breakneck reprise with harmonies and squealing guitars...great. And so to the final track, "Life Pass By", and the highlight of the demo. Someone called Cully (D McCulloch?) wrote all of these and this is the best. Taut, driving guitar work, a skilful variation in pace and lyrics that rise above the banal. More and more voices joining in and weaving different lyric and melody lines in a real Celtic knot. Brilliant.
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