Liam Carey reviews

ADVICE FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART The formula is a common one; seminal 70s/80s tune appropriated for today's incestuous marketplace, in this case the unmistakable riff from The Knack's top 5 hit My Sharona. The source, too, is equally familiar; act designed for instant success via a high-profile television show. Given the paucity of imagination and class prevalent in contemporary manufactured pop, the second Girls Aloud single No Good Advice ought to be dire. Yet, aggressively contrived and trashy though it is, there's no denying the track's disposable thrill. No Good Advice is released on May 12th.

DOUBLE TROUBLE For the erstwhile S Club 7, however, the end is nigh. Four years after announcing themselves with the annoying #1 Bring It All Back, they graduated into a fairly decent outfit courtesy of great pop moments such as Reach and especially Don't Stop Movin'. Then, in true pop fashion they lost a member, and as a consequence their numerical suffix, before losing fans with last autumn's coolly-received album Seeing Double. Now, as their feature-length film of the same name arrives at UK cinemas, S Club have announced their intention to split. There's just time for one last single, a second offering from Seeing Double, Love Won't Always Wait twinned with Say Goodbye, while an S Club Greatest Hits is likely later in 2003.

ATTIC AGAIN 1996 seems a very long time ago, not least for Alisha's Attic. The daughters of 60s popstar Brain Poole, the duo hit immediate paydirt with Top 20 hits I Am I Feel, Indestructible and Alisha Rules The World, as well as a platinum-selling debut album (also titled Alisha Rules The World) and a BRITS nomination in 1997.As is so often the case, returns were diminshed at the second time of asking, 1998's Illumina album only managing to spawn a brace of minor Top 30 hits, while third album The House We Built fared no better in 2001. Thus, the appearance of The Collection this month is not exactly a surprise. All their 10 UK hits are featured, plus a smattering of live recordings and assorted odds'n'ends.

...AND THEN THERE WERE SIX Bucking the modern trend for fewer singles per album, Polydor take another two tracks from Ronan Keating's latest album Destination and issue them as a Double-A sided single on April 21st. The Long Goodybe/Love Won't Work (If We Don't Try) joins earlier releases Lovin' Each Day, If Tomorrow Never Comes, I Love It When We Do and the Lulu duet We've Got Tonight, making it a cool half-dozen Destination songs to appear on a single to date.

FUTURE SOUNDS The best music on the horizon: DEAD OR ALIVE - EVOLUTION: Get your eyepatches out, Pete Burns and company are back early next month with a Greatest Hits set, preceded by a 2003 makeover for their mid-80s chart-topping single You Spin Me Round Like A Record. Available as both a standard single-disc with 18 larger-than-life confections, and a limited 2CD version with more than a dozen extra tracks for added extravagance. Kick it right down!

Page Content copyright © Liam Carey, 2003.

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The following is a list of Liam's Liner Notes online :

Volume 22: December 17th 2003
Volume 21: December 3rd 2003
Volume 20: November 5th 2003
Volume 19: October 22nd 2003
Volume 18: October 8th 2003
Volume 17: September 24th 2003
Volume 16: September 10th 2003
Volume 15: August 27th 2003
Volume 14: August 13th 2003
Volume 13: July 30th 2003
Volume 12: July 9th 2003
Volume 11: June 25th 2003
Volume 10: June 11th 2003
Volume 9: May 28th 2003
Volume 8: May 14th 2003
Volume 7: April 30th 2003
Volume 6: April 16th 2003
Volume 5: April 2nd 2003
Volume 4: March 19th 2003
Volume 3: March 5th 2003
Volume 2: February 19th 2003
Volume 1: February 5th 2003

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on: