(In a Michael Caine voice)
Not a lot of people know about A. Do you know why? I HAVE NO BLOODY IDEA.
(Stop Michael Caine voice)
‘A’ are gonna be big. Real big. The cheeky British funsters are back with their second album, and it’s every bit packed with perfectly crafted sing-a-long pop punk tuneage as their first, and then some.
‘For Starters’, gets the ball rolling and within seconds you know what you’re in for – melodies so catchy they’re classed as contagious squeezed into three minutes of pure energy. Barely has the opener finished than ‘Monkey Kong’ belts out, featuring the most novel of instruments – a Speak-and-Spell machine of all things. Normally this kind of thing falls flat on its face but A pull it off. Somehow.
You think you’re in for a rest for the start of the eponymous ‘A’, but that still grows to a crescendo it time and Jason hardly has time to catch his breath before blasting out another beauty in ‘Old Folks’. ‘Hopper Jonnus Fang’ slows right down, it’s a good contrast to the previous tracks, and ‘Summer on the Underground’ continues in the same, if not quite as impressive, vein. ‘Warning’ ain’t too great either, but A don’t waste any time in getting back to what they do best, with ‘If It Ain’t Broke, Fix It Anyway’ and ‘I Love Lake Tahoe’ providing great sing-a-long choruses.
Highlights of the last five include ‘Down On The Floor’ and ‘Miles Away’, and before you know it, the CD’s finished and you’re left hungry for more. It’s not that its a short record, there’s just not enough of it…
It’s a resounding five – even with the couple of slightly dodgy moments, A still manage to produce the kind of record that’ll stay in the player for months at a time
Dan