This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Slackjaw rap and twisted folk. Hipster-doofus lyrics. Junk-shop instrumentation. Spacy post-pop arrangements.
No wonder this inspired British quartet earned so many comparisons to Beck with this spring’s compilation disc The Three E.P.’s. This self-titled slice of mellow gold won’t change things, what with the B-boys’ penchant for silliness, like using Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart as the basis for a sweeping piano ballad. But its psychedelic swirls, ooo-weeing synths and mix-and-match musical mutations — nursery-rhyme folk, white-boy rap and rockabilly, all in the same song — may take the comparisons to the next level: Beck jamming with Pink Floyd.
