The Chemical Brothers
Star Guitar

Rumour has it that, after nearly ten years of releasing both popular and critically acclaimed albums, The Chemical Brothers *were beginning to run out of steam. Even Tom and Ed themselves admit that "_Come With Us_" is "more of the same", and last single "_It Began In Afrika*_" seemed a bit of a lame taster. Could it be that, the cutting of "the blonde one's" trademark hair depleted them, Samson-like, of the ability to make a computer dance?

Er, probably not, cos' "Star Guitar" is really rather nice. Think of "Surrender"'s more blissed-out moments and you're halfway there. It wouldn't have sounded out of place on, say, "Screamadelica". The edited single version seems to drift buy rather quickly, but when it has, you know you've heard somethng good. The B-side "Base 6" is more like a track from "Dig Your Own Hole" and goes "squelchy-squelchy-squelchy", which is a complement, and Pete Heller's expanded mix does exactly what it says on the tin.

Expect to hear this song, unfortunately, on a million TV adverts for a million 'Chillout' albums over the coming months, where couples coming down after a hard nights clubbing look all plastic and sexy, as opposed to real E-taking couples, sweaty and paranoid.