Monday, August 26, 2013

Formidable tunes


A couple of short Distractions record reviews a year apart; their debut EP, "You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That", and the first Island single, It Doesn't Bother Me (which was re-recorded after Steve Perrin had left the group).  Once again, these are courtesy of NME's History of Rock and Roll archives.

First up is a short but very sweet review by none other than John Cooper Clarke in the 10th February 1979 issue of NME.  Note the Single of the Week by The Only Ones (their drummer: future Distraction, Mike Kellie). The second review is by Chris Bohn in the NME on 16th February 1980.




SINGLES
Reviewed (briefly) this week by
JOHN COOPER CLARKE

THE DISTRACTIONS:

You're Not Going Out Dressed Like That (TJM).

Twelve luxurious inches, four formidable tunes.  Melodic and sharp as a barrel of japs.  The astringent elegance of their delivery kills.




THE DISTRACTIONS: "It Doesn't Bother Me" (Island WIP 6533)

Though the Distractions no longer surprise us (as they did when the record was first issued on Factory), at least the life has been remixed into their bright pop, which was so distressingly missing when Island picked up the first single for release.  This time the voices and organ have had their full bodies restored, which nevertheless doesn't detract from the music's basic zippiness.


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