WRATHCD17
Being 747
Fun & Games CD Album

1. Swingball 2. Use your friends 3.Target Practice 4. That look again 5. Make things happen 6. The music of the clones 7. Pressure to perform 8. Time talent continuum 9. I move too fast 10. Advice from the golden couple 11. I'm easy 12. The one we did last monday 13. The girl who fell asleep whilst watching her life flash before her eyes 14. Weathergirl (MPEG video)

www.ireallylovemusic.co.uk - January 2004
Review written by Mark E

consisting of three muckers some of whom are featured within other wrath records acts (label heroes scaramanga six). the cover shows said band members in uniform red shirt/black trousers .. an injoke/dig at another large profile band who also use basic red/white/black uniform ? but the main driving force is dave cooke who has obviously a desire to be an extreme pop star, in the same league as julian cope. a lot of music industry related anecdotes and stories are contained within the barbed words of intent, indicating that dave has a certain observational take on the whole front person aspect of his role that could shake robbie williams confidence to dust. maybe.

opening with 'swingball' a track featured on the labels 7" series and has been written about elsewhere but deserves top billing on the bands album and opens the fun in startling effect. the fact that this is followed by another head lodging melody/chorus just adds to the compulsive vibes .. barbed wire words set against new wave pop sensibilities. wired.
as well as the post punk pop feel the trio expand the musical menu 'the music of the clones starts off slow and mellow .. but then picks up and lets rip - a bit demo sounding - but eventually the vibes drag you in to its rather sarcastic atmosphere.
this is followed by "pressure to perform" - more music related lyrical deftness .. catchy singalong stuff, and when the sythn/organ part is layered then things do indeed sound a lot more developed and hold the attention levels. basically this is a track to have excess booze and sing along with at loud volumes ..
these opening tracks are perfect weirdo schitzo-pop.
'time talent continuum' . more stories re failed musicians playing gigs in london.. is this a concept album ? or self reverential stuff ..
thankfully after the last demo sounding tracks this has a more rounded feel to the instrumentation. and the epic 70's rock guitar sound towards the end is very welcome. the appearance of julian cope 'autogeddon' period blues rock beats is an interesting one, i just hope the guys dont prescribe to the same lifestyle that cope has documented at length in the last few years ..

another jolt is 'advice from the golden couple' with its thin distorted guitar sound that feels to have been ripped directly out of steve albini's skull. this is not overly appealing at first and the disjointed vocal almost makes me hit the 'next' button too quickly .. cos once the track hits the chorus then the fun factor is definitley back on course ' .. and soooo i get drunk ..' by the 5th listen this could be my fave track. wonderful.

'i'm easy ' - opening with tacky little keyboard sound that invokes nightmares of crap crimbo presents. again the spirit of julian cope looms large ... melody driven sweetness .. slowly a clean guitar lines pick out some groovesome harmonies over the top of the strange burbling synths. interesting. and dave c's vocals are now beginning to become very distinctive and fit the psychosis pop to perfection.

next up is the albums epic track, 'the one we did last monday', mellow, country and western depressional blues. church organ buildup and male vocal choral backing add to the atmosphere, then after 3 and half minutes we take a severe left hand turn when a offtune guitar makes the track completely non c-and-w radio friendly. obviously the guys just cant help those sonic demons that they have to expurge them from time to time .. the next guitar break adds /saxaphone to the equation - a standout track..

to finish the album off we get another perfect uptempo singalonga guitar pop song with a title thats far to long to bother with - la la la indeed.
can i mention previous leeds based guitar legends wedding present without getting lynched ? even the title has a certain gedgelike appeal ('the girl who fell asleep whilst watching her life flash before her eyes')
so over the course of the last 50 minutes we have revisited wire, cope, wedding present, fatima mansions in worthy doses. we've had a laugh at the words, winced at the painfully sharp observations, and sung along loud and proud when the chorus's hit the relevant spots
who could ask for more .. back to the start.