10

Joyous and varied!

Saturday looks good to me, yes, well it used to anyway, just like when The Kinks sang "I like my football on a Saturday, roast beef on Sunday, alright" but that's from a distance time. These days it is very rare that my club plays an away game on Saturday given the demand of TV companies and for all the fans of Premiership teams, what has it been like this season? This weekend saw three games played on the Saturday and only one of them with a 3pm kick-off, its fair made a mockery of Match of the Day and given Match of The Day 2 a higher profile than its presenter probably deserves, the 6 days a week working chipmunk that he is. So on initial impressions, Saturday is not looking good to me, its dropping in goodness with every passing season.

However, that's just this writers opinion and Saturday is looking good to the new collective from Michigan (so they probably don't understand football or soccer much anyway) who turn out to be the latest American indie band offering up a sumptuous mix of melodies and off-kilter rhythms and lyrics. Theres definitely not enough use of the word "syphilis" in modern songs and the band have managed squeeze it into a song that is very reminiscent of The Shins on '(Even If You Die On The) Ocean'

And mention of The Shins allows a handy reference point to be made and it's a starting point but thankfully there is more to this than that comparison suggests. The drum-fills on 'When I Lose My Eyes' are more akin to the LCD Soundsystem and dance-floor filling shenanigans than the standard American clever indie record and keeps the listener on their toes.

Reading about the history of front man Fred Thomas does paint a picture of a man who constantly tries to bewitch and bewilder the public and no doubt he sees the albums variety as its main selling point. In reality, it is tricky at times to keep up with the inventiveness and run of ideas but if you can do so, then its rewarding.

The move from thrashing guitar workout to 60s girl-group backing to psychedelic overdubs occur in the space of a few seconds and repeated listens to this record are going to turn up gem after gem. At its hearts it's a bit twee but when that tweeness is masked by so many overlays and instruments, its easy to forgive the wetness and appreciate the groovy moments. The album is called 'Fill Up The Room' and if they took all the instruments that were used to create this record, they would be very likely to fill a large sized room.

There are fills that which the young listener will sound like Razorlight but take it from us, this will be because Johnny B was influenced by bands like Blondie or The Modern Lovers as their spectre hangs over a lot of what Saturday Looks Good To Me offers.

45 minutes for a thirteen track album isn't overly long but it seems much longer, due to the amount of different styles and approaches being levelled at the listener and overall, it's a winner. You may feel as though you need a lie-down at the end of the record but after that, get back on your feet and give it another whirl.