The Rascals - 'Freakbeat Phantom'
No matter what people may tell you about the past, and how much better it was in the good old days, when you could safely leave your front door open, often with a sign outside saying you are in possession of many valuable and easy-to-carry consumer durables, some of which are resting loosely on top of tables and worktops while you snooze, and you're a really heavy sleeper, actually...someone would have to literally come in, shake you, shout in your face and tickle you until you break wind to have even half a chance of waking you up....(deep breath)...it wasn't all flower power and cuddling in the street.
The Rascals, despite being only just old enough to vote, know this all too well. Not that their backwards-looking '60s beat pop contains much in the way of clear-eyed social commentary (about stuff which happened at the time), but nor is it a collection of would-be-psychedelic trippy hippyisms either.
They don't want to usher forth a - what is it now, ninth? - summer of love, they'd far rather scare the hell out of you with spooky noises, blot the sunny sky with dark tales of heady romance, and generally spoil your fun by smearing on a layer of cobweb-filled shadowy murk.
What's interesting is how much this now sounds like a less grand version of the Last Shadow Puppets, which is odd, because the Last Shadow Puppets seemed at first to sound like nothing more than an orchestrated, baroque version of the Arctic Monkeys, and the Rascals don't sound anything like the Monkeys, apart from a certain vocal graininess both singers have adopted.
It's a bit like when you're used to looking at a child, and seeing how much they look like their mum, when suddenly you see their dad, and all the bits of face which aren't mum-like are suddenly filled in.
Or to put it into language the Rascals would appreciate...WhooooooOOOOOOoooohh!
Download: Out now
CD Released: June 16th
(Fraser McAlpine)
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