Le Grand Magistery

Reviews

Mascott
Follow The Sound (CD)
Kendall Jane Meade's voice works well with the meandering The Bells Of Night and the techno-lite drums and piano of the title track, but whilst several of the songs are enticingly catchy when listened to in isolation, the tempo rarely picks up beyond a plod and it is difficult to maintain interest for all forty three minutes. The former Spinane is joined on her first full length release as Mascott by members of the Mekons, Ladybug Transistor, the Stars, and even Fugazi, and yet the overall effect is often more reminiscent of the English pop band Dubstar than the US college rock sound you might expect.

Stars
A Lot Of Little Lies For The Sake Of One Big Truth (CDS)
The debut from the highly acclaimed Stars features the same sort of pure pop indie crossover that was pioneered by bands like Saint Etienne, but the Stars seem happier than many of their English counterparts to admit their influences, with this EP featuring a wonderful cover of The Smiths' This Charming Man. The lead song Radio is pleasant enough, but it is What? that outshines the other star turns, despite the fact that it is a demo track written and recorded in a single evening according to the sleeve notes.

Baxendale
You Will Have Your Revenge (CD)
Baxendale's long awaited debut LP is chock full of the sort of tunes that have led many people, myself included, to declare them to be the future of pop. Over the years there have been many indie friendly bands that have dabbled with "pop", but unlike their forebears Baxendale are refreshingly unironic - at last this is an indie band that genuinely loves pop music. Many of the songs on You Will Have Your Revenge have previously appeared elsewhere in one form or another, though several have been re-recorded or remixed for this release, and there are enough new songs here to arouse the interest of the established fan. All in all, the record makes for an excellent introduction to Baxendale, but given that it contains most of the tracks from the band's singles, it is a shame that the fantastic An American Friend has not been included too. The Grand Magistery release has four extra tracks that do not appear on the UK release, including the fabulous You Know The Rules, so it's worth getting the US version if you can.