At one point McKeown even uses the word chillax, for fuck’s sake.
1990s – Kicks
http://www.konkurrent.nl/ http://www.myspace.com/1990sband
A more bitter man than John McKeown would have a crudely carved voodoo likeness of Alex Kapranos on which to vent his frustrations. As the main force behind The Yummy Furs, he once enlisted the talents of the man with the sharp cheekbones. Kapranos (along with another of his Yummy Fur band-mates, Paul Thomson) went on to form Franz Ferdinand, become a media darling and have platinum selling records. Meanwhile McKeown (now calling himself Jackie rather than John) formed the 1990s to more moderate success and a somewhat more mixed critical reception.
One can’t help but feel that the 1990s will be condemned to live in the shadow of brighter lights of the Glasgow scene. One thing that the band had going for them was a kind of rough charm. Much of the roughness has been polished out by Bernard Butler’s production. You can’t really blame the Suedey one though, given the paucity of the material. Musically they plough the Britpop furrow that the Britpop bands have long since abandoned. Lyrically they strive for wry cleverness but end up with clangers such as ‘Girl you take so long to get ready/you know you look a whole lot better when you’re neddy’ or ‘It’ll drive me crazy, you’re left eye is kinda lazy’. At one point McKeown even uses the word chillax, for fuck’s sake.
The brightest and best moment on the album is I Don’t Even Know What It Is, but nothing matches the standout You’re Supposed to be My Friend from first album Cookies. When I say standout, though I mean that it stood out from the rest of their material. Even that high point wasn’t that good, and this second stab fails to live up to it.
This isn’t a completely awful album. It is, however, pretty mediocre
Words: Rover