- The Observer, Sunday 16 July 2006
1. The Who
Wire and Glass (Polydor single)
Clattering drums and an urgent vocal introduce the Who's first new music in yonks, pitched somewhere between Tommy and Quadrophenia. That's not surprising as the lyrics to 'Sound Around', the first of six vignettes making up this 11-minute maxi-single, were written in 1971. There is some preposterous story arc linking the parts of this mini-opera, but it needn't detain us. Previewed in the band's many shows this summer, this record contains one execrable rhyme ('peace'/'knees'), some top riffing and a sense that Townshend and Daltrey are fully engaged in making worthwhile music. The theme tunes for umpteen series of CSI are sorted.
Campbell Stevenson
2. Kasabian
Empire (Columbia single)
East Midlands chart commandos Kasabian - the paramilitary wing of 2004's post-Strokes UK guitar pop upsurge - were well due another tour of duty. And this first single from their second album rewards those who knew they could be more than mere baggy revivalists. It starts with a stiff-necked, thug-disco strut, before a more fluid - almost tribal - backbeat seeps through. Then 'Empire' expands its creative frontiers to become one of those catchy mid-Eighties Fall singles, before springing one last surprise via a finale tinged with the mystery of the Orient (the geographical region, not the football team).
Ben Thompson
3. Ooutkast
Mighty "O" (LaFace single)
Curiously trailing Idlewild, their forthcoming Thirties-set film, with a song all about themselves, OutKast at least provide some context by borrowing the hook from Cab Calloway's 'Minnie the Moocher'. André, addressing the microphone in rap for the first time in a while, tries to distance himself from his adoring public ('they read one magazine and wanna think they're getting warmer') while Big Boi again plays earth to his partner's live wire. Zeitgeist-defining it ain't (the clumpy, crunky beat never really flies), but 'Mighty "O"' is a strong taster for the soundtrack, which will hopefully be another extraordinary album.
Steve Yates
4. Jarvis Cocker
Running the World (myspace.com/jarvspace)
Does it - as the title might plausibly suggest - have something to do with the Sport Relief campaign and Dermot O'Leary exhorting us to run a mile yesterday? Well, perhaps obliquely it does. This first recording from Jarvis Cocker under his own steam - streaming from his own MySpace site - was written on the night of Live8 last year. With the wit that pop has long been missing, plus a new-found anger, it examines our confused relationship with aid and the powers that be. Confused? Well, one thing is certain in Cocker's world - as the chorus so magnificently puts it: 'cunts are still running the world.'
Caspar Llewellyn Smith
5. The Horrors
Death at the Chapel (Loog single)
Only Southend could have spawned the Horrors. Disillusioned with the seaside resort's main sources of entertainment - broken-down funfairs and filthy chip shops - the five-piece formed in 2005, adopting a host of knowing, goth-like pseudonyms (Spider Webb, Coffin Joe). Accordingly, their second single, 'Death at the Chapel', is a two-minute-long garage-zombie stomp. Like its predecessor, 'Sheena is a Parasite' - the banned video for which featured actress Samantha Morton - it comprises randomly spewed lyrics over a pulsating punk riff, horror film screams and a swampy organ melody.
Sarah Phillips
