What do you think of when you see the band name �Stegg�? Perhaps Stegosaurus, which is where their name comes from, mis-spelled with an extra �g� for added effect. Unlike the dinosaur though, this band are anything but long extinct. Is this a good thing? Listen to the tracks on the cover CD and make up your own mind.

Stegg�s first record is a good slice of indie-rock with an electronic twist. The album, a whopping 15-tracker just two minutes short of an hour, can only be described as varied. There are tracks like �Escape� which is rocky and upbeat with a more traditional indie-guitar feel through to �Bitter� that feels more energetic and very much Greenday. Then there�s �Rainy Day� which is raw and punky with screeching vocals, ending up with �Mark� which is much slower and sounds like something the Beatles may have recorded as a b-side for �I Want To Hold Your Hand�!

Some of the songs on the album are very catchy, the sort you find yourself whistling unawares. However, do not be deceived. Some of the tracks also deal with darker themes. Take for instance �Junkie Queen� which tells the story of the demise of a 17-year old girl through taking drugs (�You�re not the same girl that I used to know, no you�re not quite as fun�, �it seems to me like an expensive thrill when you�re paying with you�re mind�). Then there�s �Chemical Change� which also seems to deal with the issue of drugs. The record then ends with �True Love�, which deals with the obsessions of a perverted stalker (�You never know how I love you, through you�re window a free strip show�, �You know its true, that I love you, but I won�t approach you�, �I walked you home, followed alone�).

An insight into the band members� sense of humour can be seen in the track �Please Don�t Tread On My Cheeseburger� which sounds like it was conceived and written during and after ten pints of lager and a vindaloo on a Friday or Saturday night. The double �g� mis-spelling of their name seems to have a humorous theme throughout the record with tracks like �Twigg� and �Jugg�. The many electronic �swooping� and �whirling� noises that are sprinkled throughout many of the songs further lifts the record.

One bad thing about the album is the first track �Dress Rehearsal�, an attempt to capture the sound of a band tuning-up their instruments prior to a performance, which actually sounds like a drunken version of �Intro� on the very first Embrace album. Another is perhaps the �hidden track� found at the end of the last song �True Love�. My last gripe is about the lead singer�s voice, which could do with being worked on. There are also some vocal effects applied to �that voice� on some of the tracks that would best be resigned to the scrap heap. This combination makes the album less accessible on the first listen. Perhaps that�s why this band likes to think that �they always get you in the end�.

Austin Booth

Frantic Chant

Band: Frantic Chant

Record: �May Contain Traces Of Nuts� demo album

Contact: www.franticchant.co.uk

First thoughts on �may contain traces of nuts�? Think up a new band name and don�t allow yourselves to be stereotyped. Don�t allow lazy journalists to get away with writing a brief account about how you sound like you want to be The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays or a solo Ian Brown. They may even refer to the Primals. Become individualistic. Think originality. Get the point. Good.

As you�d have guessed already, the Edinburgh-based five-piece deliver their eleven track album within an early 90s indie cross dance / electronica form; there are clear and obvious reference points to the likes of Stone Roses and Primal Scream - point proved within the first minute of �New Breed� opening the album. This is actually a very good song, built up by guitars, then bass, then fuzz guitar and then vocals. My only problem is that it just needs to � you know � hit me straight in the face and wake me up to a new musical phenomena. Despite the build up, the tempo is too slow for too long, and there�s a point around 17 seconds where I�d have loved the keyboard and sampler to blow me away. Two minutes in and I understand my hopes are dashed. Shame. Still, not bad.

�Take a Bow� is sub-Soup Dragons, early 90s indie and I have no idea why its on the record. Next. Ahh, �Times Like These� indicates we�re now onto the samples. I do believe there�s a sample of the opening song �New Breed� included in there too - nice touch; actually, whilst still in a semi-Manchester style, there�s a more pop radio-friendly touch to this song that makes it mildly appealing.

Who�d have guessed that there�d be a ballad on this record? �Take Me� is not even a token gesture (more follows) and whilst I have no direct criticism � it�s a decent song � it�s no better than every other ballad that I�ve taken a dislike to in the past.

It�s times like these, in this case track number five �Chaos = The Only Answer�, that I begin to wonder what Frantic Chant will be like live. I can only hope that vocalist Stazy provides a crazed front man role, whipping the audience up onto a frenzy whilst the band do likewise. The music is now taking shape. Yeah, it still sounds like Manchester in the late eighties, early nineties, but I like it. Think �mass-acceptance�.

�Forever Summer� sounds like Embrace. Take from that what you will. �Johnny and Luther� is a spoken word track over the top of guitar and keyboard effects. Too weird for me, though it does highlight Frantic Chant�s fascination with the lyric �This is the new breed�.

Disorder and music go well together, which means that the shambles that is �Unforgiven�, a mix of pianos, mellow verses along with frantic fuzzed guitar riff driven choruses, is a welcome blast. Categorically the best song since �Chaos = The Only Answer� � anyone else see the theme emerging�?

What a shame that the two tracks that complete the CD fail to live up with past achievements, and my own personal expectations. But it doesn�t matter. There�s been enough here (though, it is an album after all) to form a general opinion of fondness towards Frantic Chant. Equally, there�s some real curl-up-and-die nonsense which, when cut to the chase, could have left this as a four track EP. Still, that�s what you get with albums, some great tunes and some fillers. Certainly a band to watch, and when they�re on their game they can knock out some half-decent songs.

Dave Sugden

Elated PageKits

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