(from CWSY#9, June '02) / home / reviews index
Mark 700 - 'Cohiba'
(Fortuna Pop!)
I wouldn't mark them 700, though this is a fair effort for a debut;
even the Fortuna Pop! Co. only claims "It's a great alt-rock record
with influences ranging from Pavement and Elastica to My Bloody Valentine
and The Velvet Underground. Which isn't all that far I know, but hey,
we know what we like!" So, it's not too original, but with an opening
song called 'Catchy Monkey' and a next that suggests "crack
open a big cigar, stick the Macarena on!" I get the impression
it's more a sense of fun that gives this lot their urge to create. It's
a short album, yet it does well to capture a hazy day of the type normally
seen just on nostalgic TV and in invented memories; the sweetest form
of lo-fi romanticism, with signifiers like the wave sound underneath
'Driving On'. Even when the pace picks up, the mood is still relaxed,
added to by the short cello interlude or addition of saxophone, wallowing
on 'Summer' or stretching in delight on 'You Are The One', Magoo sing
Primal Scream with customary rainbowdrop melodies. An excellent way
to pass an afternoon (if not to pass an exam marked on cred).
