August 29, 2007

Monkey Swallows The Universe

The Casket Letters

7 / 10 Twee is back. If it’s not Los Campesinos! and The Answering Machine writing cardigan-clad pop, it’s these C86-loving Sheffield folkies penning tunes about Grand National winning horses (‘Little Polveir’) and the wonders of modern technology (‘Science’). In the wrong hands this could all be too saccharine, but singer Nat Johnson has a voice that can do withering as well as whimsical.
The songs here offer far more than the usual ‘let’s get under the covers and listen to our old Sarah Records seven inches’ sentiment. The upbeat ‘Matterhoney’ is concerned with good old shagging, while the ‘Ballad Of The Breakneck Bride’ tells the story of a couple who die in a car crash on the way to their wedding.
Proof there’s more than one primate-monickered South Yorkshire outfit worth listening to.

Rob Webb

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