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Named in a roundabout way after a Fall track, the band’s Jack Barnett has obviously been studying the vocal stabbings of one Mark E Smith. That whole 'statement, repetition, gurn, slur, statement' approach to music.

And although TNP are receiving a lot of attention for their intelligence and esoteric influences, these lyrics would be far more complex in the hands of the Smith. If anything, it’s a fairly simple number, no need to open up Wikipedia to check the references. Still, that’s not what the song’s been sold upon, so it doesn’t seem fair to kick them in the gob for the hype they’re garnering.

If anything, what makes this song interesting is the fact that they’ve overcome the difficulty of recording a studio track that evokes the wildness, sweat and spit of a live performance. It’s hard not to give in to the quickening of the pulse with the very first bass chords. If your head won’t relent, sod it, follow your blood flow...

Download: Out now
CD Released: February 11th

(Nickie Latham)

PS: There's a nice summation of where the band are from (and where they are at, maaan) on .
PPS: Listen to the ChartBlog interview with Jack, right here...