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Little Man Tate - 'This Must Be Love'

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Fraser McAlpine | 12:07 UK time, Sunday, 25 March 2007

Little Man TateFor all their flint-eyed, curtain-twitching lyrical precision, the Arctic Monkeys do have a weak spot in their armour. Apart from the gorgeous - but still fairly damning - 'Mardy Bum', Alex Turner rarely seems to really put his own feelings into his songs. Which means that listening to the Monkeys can occasionally feel like sitting on a bench in town, watching people go by, and making snap judgements about what they are like as they pass.

And it's a lyrical trap that fellow countymen Little Man Tate are also prone to falling into. Which is why this some comes as such a blessed relief, and why having this as their breakthrough hit might serve the band well. After all, it might look brilliantly cool to have spotted and pointed out the character flaws in everyone else, but it's a LOT braver to stand up and sing about your own life with the same lack of flinch.

So, for once, can I present to you a love song in which stars do not fall from the sky, in which the Earth remains unmoved, and in which deep feelings can be measured in sharing a cigarette and kissing with tongues for the very first time. Simple pleasures, but all the more vivid for it.

And in coming up with a straight-talking and tender song in a landscape of puffed-up metaphorical nonsense and shouty brutality, the Tate have actually achieved what the Ordinary Boys thought they had when they released the over-thought-out and awkward 'I Luv U' - a fresh approach to singing about love. And for that, it deserves to be heard by anyone with a heart.

Four starsReleased: April 2nd

(Fraser McAlpine)

Comments

  1. At 09:21 PM on 02 Apr 2007, emma wrote:

    pleas. dont. say. anything. bad. ABOUT ALEX TURNER AND HIS LYRICS.

    [Rightyouare, Em. - Fraser]

  2. At 08:14 PM on 13 Apr 2007, Donna wrote:

    I love LMT! This track is stright to the point and feels far more real than any love song Alex Turner could write (which he wouldn't as he's apparently too cool).
    I'm glad to see these guys come into the light a bit I've followed them for quite a while now, and for them to be supporting The View is an achievement too.
    Great track. Great Band. Buy the album. End. Of.

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