October 26, 1998

Skipafone

...Going on the basis that [a]Les Rythmes Digitales[/a] isn't French and [a]Mojave 3[/a] aren't from the desert, it will come as somewhat less than a shock to discover that [a]El Hombre Trajeado[/a],

7 / 10 RIGHT. LET'S GET THIS straight. Going on the basis that Les Rythmes Digitales isn't French and Mojave 3 aren't from the desert, it will come as somewhat less than a shock to discover that El Hombre Trajeado, far from being a bunch of desperadoes, are from Glasgow. Even less surprising, considering their home town, is the fact that they sound a little bit wonky.

El Hombre Trajeado are obviously men of sophisticated pleasures; with three Peel sessions beneath their collective belt and a clutch of sardonically inclined song titles (see 'Bit Faster') up their sleeve, one can gather that it isn't all Slint-stroking snobbery which keeps 'Skipafone' ticking over so impeccably.

As ever in this post-universe rock world, fluidity is the key: deft of bassline and complex of guitar chord, El Hombres cleverly alleviate the potential left-field gloom with a myriad of fancy noises from various synths and glockenspiels found lying around the studio. That they dare to mutter the odd lyric or five merely adds to the sonic satisfaction.

The fact that closing track 'Deep Sleep' suddenly pretends to be Blue Nile in the midst of a nervous breakdown, however, suggests that El Hombres may just turn out to be slightly more desperate than even we suspected...