Recently, much has been made of Eminem's subliminal attempt to re-animate the career of forgotten 1980s also-ran Martika with his new single sampling her long-forgotten 1980s hit single "Toy Soldiers." Personally, I feel such dodgy nostalgia trips can only realistically end in tears for all concerned, yet here I am about to praise a similar move perpetrated by everyone's favourite dance-related funsters LEMON JELLY.
But then, the infamous Marshall Mathers doesn't have the exquisitely unlikely taste LJ duo Nick Franglen and Fred Deakin continue to parade in their search for shaping the coolest of tracks from the most obscure starting points.
And this time they've simply excelled themselves. Y'see, your reviewer was rather taken by a little-known Edinburgh new wave outfit called The Scars, who made a smashing album called "Author! Author!" and several cracking singles round the turn of the '80s and promptly disappeared off the map. I tell you this because LJ's newie "The Shouty Track" samples The Scars' "Horror Show" (no, it's not The Libertines one) to fantastic effect, using it to build up a broody, strafeing intro which is then whipped up into a blindingly psychotic warp-out that's both as heavy as fuck and ridiculously danceable as usual. Typical. There should be a law against these cheeky buggers, but in my heart I'm glad there's not.
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Stick around for the fabulous unplugged version of "Nice Weather For Ducks" (from Jo Whiley's show) on CD1 too. Featuring ex-James/ David Thomas trumpeter Andy Diagram and the mysterious Mountaineering Monks of Montezuma, its' weirdo nursery rhyme refrain ("all the ducks are swimming in the water, fal-do-ral-do-raldo") sets up a brilliant set piece that goes from folky and sombre to jazzy, percussive and celebratory in the blink of an eye. It works a treat in the low-wattage setting and hell, even the duck calls sound heroic.
Trust me, there's plenty more offbeat genius in store on LJ'S new album "'64 - '95" but that's to get ahead of ourselves. Start your new Lemon Jelly campaign with "The Shouty Track": as ever it's the sound of Nick and Fred gleefully ripping up the rulebook, dousing it in petrol, chucking in a match and toasting crumpets while it burns. Very bloody tasty indeed.
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