(4-track demo/ 2002)
So what about Bob Cuba, the ambitious Scots rock trio. After receiving Radio 1 airplay on the famed Lamacq show, I got in touch and was easily converted to this band's brand of off-kilter indie-rock.
While 'Never Let You Go' is an adequate enough, mid-paced anthem blessed with paranoid guitars and a nifty church organ backing melody, they shine at their brightest on the Alt-Pop genius of 'Karaoke Tribe,' the pacy beat and spiky guitar FX paying lip service to Stuart Stevenson's sarcastic vocal stabs at the pop industry. And the step they take from the previous anthem into this more experimental field is done seamlessly, and I even heard a bit of The Stone Roses in the groove and Stu's versatile voice.
That's one thing that Bob Cuba have got going for them: the ability to sound like a whole host of familiar bands - and yet still they hold their own with a hugely original sound.
The final track on this demo is an unnecessary remix of 'Karaoke Tribe' complete with the same scaling guitar and John Watt's rumbling bass as in the original, meaning it is a huge time-wasting anticlimax� especially when the third track in 'You're Not' is absolutely, resolutely, sanctimoniously brilliant. If you want to experience the sublime magic of Bob Cuba skip straight here, as the beautiful guitar melody - courteously played by Stuart (who's brother Colin is on drums) - perfectly compliments his sympathetic vocals that remind of poetic types Morrissey, Lloyd Cole and Jarvis Cocker. 'You're not arrogant, you're misunderstood' he wistfully promises.
Bob Cuba are neither. To the contrary they have the edge and potential to be hugely influential.
(STEVE RUDD)
www.bobcuba.com Email� [email protected] Tel: 07984 339993