The Bluetones
Fast Boy / Liquid Lips

The frothing buzz of distorted guitars... not very Bluetones, surely? The Bluetones are the glorious middle-distance runners of Britpop. They’ve neither scaled the supermodel-shagging, ant-snorting heights of their stadium filling contemporaries, or been reduced to a seven night stand at the Frog & Firkin to pay off a tax bill. Good thing too, they’re no doubt healther and happier for it.

After a ‘Best Of’ collection, traditionally the death knell of a moderate unit-shifter, they return with a double a-side of fizzy popness. ‘Fast Boy’ is patently the more equal (check your Orwell) of the two cuts, with a breezy clarion call of “so come on”... okay so Mark Morriss probably never was the most deft lyricist, but perhaps simplicity isn’t such a bad thing occasionally. His honeyed, androgynous vocals on both songs play an increasingly secondary role to Adam Devlin’s guitar, on fiery form. Nice catchy tunes, no more.