A HEARTBEAT AWAY

McGanns

Some things in life are guaranteed. One example is the bloke who hangs round Oxford Street in London with a huge placard saying ‘Golf Sale’ – go there any day and you will see him. Another is actors wanting to be pop stars and vice versa. Sometimes, just sometimes, it all works beautifully and they become accepted by everybody as the multi-faceted entertainers they have become. This is not one of those cases. It’s slow, it’s heartfelt, but you’ve heard it before (this is Boyzone Country). It’ll make the chart, but all the same it’s reassuring to know they can all act.

ALL THE MONEY’S GONE

Babylon Zoo

Remember Spaceman? That was the song that was quite catchy for the first 20 seconds and the last 10, but the bit in between was appalling, laughable tat that took itself far too seriously. Suffice to say, they haven’t changed. There really is no point making cheap shots at the title of this single, as the song does the job perfectly well on its own.

EVERY YOU, EVERY ME

Placebo

Have you ever listened to a New Order album? Go on, do it now. Pick up a copy of Technique or Brotherhood, then listen to any of the last three Placebo singles and play Spot The Difference. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? It isn’t. It seems (to me, anyway) that all the songs Manchester’s finest deemed fit merely for release as album tracks have inspired Brian Molko to write similar tunes for release as singles. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing as most bands aren’t even fit to leave bottles of milk outside the House of New Order, it’s just that, well, listening to Placebo makes you feel they haven’t quite peaked yet. Perhaps they’ll discover drum machines and decent record covers one day, until then this’ll do nicely...