The Toy Guns are (mostly) British, yes; but no, this is not a Joy Division cover. “Transmission” is a rip-roaring little post-punk number that, like the best of the genre, clocks in at just over two minutes. It may be a less-then-ideal 96kbps, but if listened to loud enough in the car while playing the air guitar, you can barely notice.
South Central
Leave it to a couple Brits, thousands of miles away from the hood, to snag South Central as the moniker for their punked-up, electronic efforts. Don’t, however, expect them to address gang politics or aesthetics in their dance floor offerings. On their forthcoming single, due August 13th on Regal’s Single Club, the b-side track, “Revolution,” and its refrain “Can’t stop the wheel,” pays homage to both Spacemen 3 and to the novel of Russian philosopher/mystic P.D. Ouspensky, The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin, who explores the idea of eternal recurrance. Deep, trippy stuff to be sure. Catch their DJ sets or live appearances (with a five piece band) this summer in London and its surroundings. If they ever slow down their remix work, hopefully South Central will concentrate on banging out their very own, proper album. An archaic wish I know…
JakobÃnarÃna
I can imagine a relay race where Mark E. Smith runs the first leg. He makes his way around the track and when it comes time to pass the baton he doesn’t want to give it up. He thinks the race is 4×1600, when it’s really 4×100. See, just when I think there can’t be another Fall record: there’s another Fall record. That’s not a bad thing, but other bands are ready to take their baton and run with it. Iceland’s JakobÃnarÃna (their debut album hits this fall) seem ready to go the distance. Their music is crisp and full of youthful energy while vocalist Gunnar Ragnarsson sings with a mature timbre similar to Mark E. Smith, despite the fact that he’s probably young enough to be Smith’s grandson. Thematically, compare and contrast the pogo-core of JakobÃnarÃna’s “Sleeping in Seattle” with Minor Threat’s hardcore “Out of Step.” I wish more of America’s youth were as out of step with pop-culture.