Originally
published in Skyscraper
Straight-up Brit-pop please.
With appropriate accents and witty lyrics, thanks. Coming right
up. On Sportique’s Communique No. 9, the wit runs a little
thin though: when a song rides on a single punch line like “why
are all my best friends other people’s girlfriends,”
trouble is likely afoot. Sportique want to be incisive and edgy,
as they knock the hip on their “Requiem for the Avant-Garde”
or when they offer “Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell Records,”
but they’re just not convincing. They’re not angry
enough to be truly edgy, and they’re not clever enough to
be truly incisive. This CD’s got eight songs and it’s
like 5 minutes long. OK, 17:26 to be exact. Four of those songs
are under two minutes long. I mean, why bother? I guess that’s
really punk or something, but Communique just comes off as a hurried
aural sketchbook. “There’s nothing they won’t
do to raise the standard of boredom,” a figure on the album’s
sleeve tells us. The band means it satirically, of course, but
their efforts only contributed to my own ennui. At least, the
lads sound like they’re having some fun. That’s got
to count for a lot these days.
Robert Stribley
Official
Web site
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