CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE

A1

You remember A1. They’re the boyband that hit No1 a while back with a cover of A-ha’s Take On Me that murdered the original, buried it in the back garden and built a cheap tacky water feature on top of it. It’s all coming back now, isn’t it? Well, so have they. Gone are the cheery, universally friendly A1 – what we have here is a grown up, edgier A1. That means guitars, but more in the style of 911 than L7, so as to guarantee continuous airplay across the town some people call the world’s best new city (guess where that is). It’s still a fairly bland pop song though, whether or not they chucked a guitar on it.

WATCHING XANADU

Mull Historical Society

Thank God the song isn’t a critical reappraisal of the wretched Olivia Newton-John movie. Instead we get a song that A1 would probably kill for. It’s got guitars as well, but it’s also got other real instruments too, not to mention that it’s upbeat without sounding forced and – more importantly – it’s a tune you can recall after it finishes. There’s another difference between the two songs – I like this one.