Wednesday 10 October 2007

JENNY HOYSTON 'ISLE OF'

(Southern, 2007)

01 spell d-o-g
02 bring back art
03 break apart, reattach
04 I don't need 'em
05 even in this day and age
06 ruff, ruff, rainbow city
07 everyone's alone
08 novelist
09 send the angels
10 structure
11 kill those thoughts above
12 babies with rabies

"I don't know what's in the water at the moment but I seem to be spoilt with an abundance of great rock albums. We've got Thurston Moore in one corner, Emma Pollock in another, Magik Markers coming in with guns blazing and now Erase Errata frontwoman Jenny Hoyston plunging an oar, vying for supremacy. Well she doesn't have to do a great deal to convince me, as a long time devotee of all things riot grrrl I have more than just a soft spot for Erase Errata and their second-wave take on the sound, and this debut solo album from Miss Hoyston is just what the doctor ordered. Rather than a basic re-treading of steps, Hoyston has crafted a genuinely original record with enough balls, guts and rawk fury to keep even the most self-confessed masculine listener smiling from ear to ear. These songs are, in keeping with the genre, economically brief for the most part but never feel clipped rather they say exactly what they need to say in a minute and a half before moving on. Hoyston also has that rare ability to write simple pop hooks that manage to sink their claws into your subconscious and have you humming away all day, but unlike the latest radio smash, this isn't a negative thing. Just listen to the electroid growl of 'I Don't Need 'Em' or 'Everyone's Alone', it's still punk rock, it's just done that little bit differently and who can begrudge Hoyston that? Bedroom punk has rarely sounded so damned alluring..."


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