Sunday 6 April 2008

Projekt A Ko vs. Horowitz (Filthy Little Angels)


Like Talulah Gosh using childishness as a form of subversion, or Orange Juice being deliberately fey because it was punk, Horowitz are the sound of cheekily thumbed noses and being provocatively cutesy to get people’s backs up. This isn’t pigeon-toed limp indie with downcast eyes, but the sound of a band thoroughly revelling in the concept of twee-pop.

‘Sweetness I Could Die In Your Arms’ is a good old-fashioned jangle-pop anthem buzzing and sparkling, designed to turn the dance floor into a whirl of stripy t-shirts and flying fringes. It makes me remember why I fell for the anorak pop sound in the first place. Why it seemed like a rallying cry for the dispossessed – yes we have bowlcuts and dufflebags, but we’ll poke you in the eye with a lollipop and stomp on your feet with our Startrites, turn the treble up and make your ears bleed.

‘Hug Target’ (such an icky title it’s great) begins and end with perfect squeals of feedback (yum!) and in between weaves its merry way on an irresistibly chiming tune topped with la la las and Ian’s Gregory Webster on helium (yes! imagine that!) vocals. Sha la hurrah!

Over on the other, er, side (this ‘split seven inch’ is actually a collection of stinky old mp3s for me) we find more lovely distortion courtesy of Projekt A Ko who were once three-quarters of fab raygun noisters Urusei Yatsura. ‘Nothing Works Twice’ sees the band operating on the if-it-ain’t-broke premise, kicking up a welcome dust-storm of crunchy noisome pop. There are cheeky screeches of strangulated feedback, scratchy rhythms and cheery foot-to-the-pedal singalong bursts of tuneful chaos. ‘Goodbye Sunlight’, on the other hand, begins with unfettered guitar strumming, lulling you into a false sense of security before the fuzz-pedals get hit. The wooziness of the tune even hints at the sounds of late sixties soft-pop (say Harpers Bizarre or someone). A fabulous combination of J Mascis-style laidbackness and um, J Mascis-style guitar torturing. Sounds like going out on summer evenings as the light fades and the streetlamps come on.

Facts bit: The single, featuring two songs by each band, is limited to 200 copies, available exclusively online. You can order it now from http://www.filthylittleangels.com/

No comments: