Album Reviews |

The Yummy Fur

Male Shadow At Three O'Clock ( 1998 ) ****
St John Of The Cross / Catholic / Department / Colonel Blimp / The Canadian Flag / Vacumn Cleaner / Young F**ks Need Fingers

You never walk into Burger King and get asked, "Would you like some Yummy Fur with that?" do you? And in twelve years of avidly reading the major music publications, you never see in-depth articles on The Yummy Fur either, thus entirely miss the fact that they even exist. You see, whilst I pinned my musical mast to the 'Indie' flag fairly early on in my life, seeing it broaden quite considerably later in life - I was never one of those guys trailing around the pubs and small clubs, buying fanzines, etc etc. I listened to John Peel avidly every night for at least six years, and still listen today - but never once caught the name 'Yummy Fur'. This 10" EP right here followed two LPs proper and some of the music is right up my street, I must admit. 'Catholic' relies on very simple melodies sketched out by guitar and keyboards, the lyrics are funny and clever, the production 'homely' and lo-fi. The singer has a distinctive voice and style. It may not be a particular GOOD voice, but its there! The songs range from 2:31 in length to a massive 3:26 in length! 'The Canadian Flag' is the three minute, twenty six second long 'epic' of the set, and the guitar sound is very cool. Bashing guitars, little melodies here and there. A song that works up no kind of sweat as reproduced in the studio, but is fascinating 'to watch' all the same. It develops, and the thought in your brain is constantly 'what's next?' as the song goes along, even though it doesn't actually change at all musically or vocally throughout. That's a weird kind of feeling. There's an effect on the singers voice at one point, for no good clear reason, but this remains entertaining material.

I really want to adore any song called 'Vacumn Cleaner', again for no good clear reason. I do like the guitar melodies here, lots of very short melodic phrases, not terribly inventive ones - but very catchy ones all the same. The singer shouts and hollers and makes himself heard this time around, he sounds a little indistinct at other times on this EP. It's a release that's closed off via 'Young F**ks Need Fingers' - dirty fuzzed guitar added to such cheap sounding keyboards tracing a simple, yet such catchy melody, that a smile is an almost certain possibility.

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Keyboards mixed to match the guitars, a duel cheap sounding keyboard/guitar 'assualt'! The singer hasn't improved a good deal, but the lyrics are great. There's a section of music that comes in, a brief section in the wonderful 'Sexy World' that reminds me a little of The Fall, always a good thing to be reminded of. 'Playboy Japan' is kind of spooky sounding, then daft sounding thanks to a vocal stuck through an effects unit, a 1976 vision of the future. It's unintentionally funny, if not exactly good. This isn't a problem at all when we reach third song 'In The Company Of Women'. The same riff repeats throughout, but it's a great riff. Nobody ever complained about The Rolling Stones basing entire songs around a single riff, so they shouldn't complain when The Yummy Fur do the same! 'British Eyeballs Ltd' is typically quirky Yummy Fur material, but excellent material with it. How about some sources of reference, then? 'Cryptdang' sounds like The Inspiral Carpets', only a completely insane and drunk Inspiral Carpets. Haven't heard of Inspiral Carpets? 'Analogue People' sounds a little like The Fall circa 1983 from a musical point of view. Only a little, but it'll do. The vocals sound like? Hmmm. It's a good question. What DO they sound like? Well, on 'Analogue People' they sound like the singer from Wire used to sound on 'Pink Flag', but only if he'd been singing whilst chewing a piece of gum and actually only present somewhere in the room next door to the rest of the band. Yeah, that's a better description! Back to 'Analogue People' though, and we must return, because the keyboards do all sorts of great things throughout.

'50 Million Bees' is my favourite Yummy Fur song, and that's official. The lyrics are completely daft, yet able to easily raise a grin on this listeners face. It's a well structured Indie guitar song, a minor gem. I wish I could say the same was true of all the remaining material, but it isn't true. Nothing too bad, although the nine minute closing track I could have happily lived without ever having heard. 'The Ballad Of Piggy Wings' is welcome variation in sound and pace, a slower song whereas most Yummer Fur songs seem to be taken at the same fast, or mid-tempo bordering on fast, tempo. Very funny lyrics all through 'The Ballad Of Piggy Wings' - a little lo-rent sauce pretending to be romance never did anyone any harm.

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