I've just picked up the Chocolate Weasel 12", and all I can say is that
this is a real dissapointment. A lot of it is real cheesy 80s sounding
synth stuff - it reminds me of when a mate of mine had a cheap keyboard
and used to muck about making tunes using the tinny drum and twangy bass
noises on it (you know the sort - they had settings like Bossa Nova 1
and Bass Slap 2 on them). The only difference is, my freind never
decided to release them. The attempt at dub on the b-side isn't much
better either. It sounds like the filler on one of those terrible
'Planet Dub' compilations on Megadog, with every bloody obvious dub
cliche thrown in. What pisses me off, even more than the poor quality
of this release, is the fact that it's done by Mark Royal. I mean this
is the guy who wrote stuff like Mutant Jazz, Self Evident Truth.. and
those wicked early S.O.U.R EPs like the Elemental & Lipsing Jamring.
Tracks like those still sound fresh today, but I don't think the sort of
stuff on the latest 12" ever sounded good. For me, there's no
difference between tracks like these or DMX Crew or whatever, trying to
sound like the 80s on crappy Casio VL Tone synthesisers, or some wanker
like Lenny Kravitz only recording using 60's amps, just so he can sound
more like Hendrix. What's the point of saying something twice? If you
didn't get it the first time then you should be listening harder.
Anyway, rant over.
Dan Shoebridge
NP: David Holmes - Let's get killed.