THE RESEARCH have made a little dent in the world of pop this last month or so. I'm zipping along to "She's Not Leaving" right now. Its frothy, tuneful, junk-box approach is inspired fun. This is what great pop is all about.
But popping up at the very same moment in history, burned onto a CD-R in my own sweaty palm, is NAPOLEON III's "Anthem For The Board" (c/w Boys in Bands). It carries the same mission to delight and surprise as THE RESEARCH, with a similarly barking-out-loud set of tune-razing bits and bobs.
NAPOLEON III (apart from being a French dynast who lived for a while in Leamington Spa) is the current nom de guerre for one-time LITTLE JAPANESE TOY Jamie Mabbet. Jamie has plundered a dozen or so things that you can plug-in, twiddle, scrape, bash or blow through to make a piece of deliciously consumable tunery. It gives THE RESEARCH a breathless run for their money.
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"Anthem for the Board" is urgent and serious – but stuffed full of happy hour licks and drum pad effects that give it a compelling freshness. Like a camel with a smile or a giraffe with a silly limp. "Guys in Bands" is chirpy mopishness, observing that guys in bands get girls. So, great plan going solo then, Napoleon? Mark the name, and remember it's NAPOLEON III. Not as nutty as it might seem, and much more fun than his namesake.
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