May 16, 1999

Seven More Minutes

It's all about friends. Late nights, far away from home. Knocking about with some keyboards, having a bit of fun....

6 / 10 It's all about friends. Late nights, far away from home. Knocking about with some keyboards, having a bit of fun. Two years ago Weezer bassist Matt Sharp trundled over to Blighty with his 'side-project' The Rentals and landed in the lap of Britpop. He loved it so much, he left Weezer, departed LA and romped around Europe. Somewhere along the way, he recruited a few of his fashionable new mates - Damon Albarn, Donna Matthews, Tim Wheeler and one-time Lush lady Miki Berenyi - and made this, the second Rentals LP.

The Rentals Cover 'Seven More Minutes' has an air of offhand incohesiveness, of ideas cobbled together spontaneously. Some of which are terrific. Like the loopy, breakneck blitz of 'Barcelona' and Donna Matthews' smoky vocals shadowing Sharp's in 'Say Goodbye Forever'. But there's an unpleasant list into the murky waters of novelty pop in the inane Gary Numan-esque 'The Cruise', the awful anaemic white rap of 'Big Daddy C' and excruciatingly cheerful 'Getting By'.

Whereas the playschool keyboards and powerpunk hooks of the first Rentals album had a nervy, new-wave edge, much of 'Seven More Minutes' drips awkwardly with affected, borrowed cool. Sounds like making this record was a rollicking laugh. You just can't help but feel like you've missed the joke.