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The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

This review was first published on CLUAS in 2002
Other albums reviewed in 2002

Fred

A review of their album 'Can't Stop I'm Being Timed'

You really don't have to read past the next sentence to get an idea about this album. Bland, "quirky" pop, lacking in originality, decent lyrics (not that you can make out the lyrics most of the time), and devoid of anything to grab the listener. It was a chore to make it through the album, it took me about five attempts before I managed to not turn it off after track three (The Wondering Geologist).

Fred 'Can't Stop I'm Being Timed'The band attempt to market 'Can't Stop I'm Being Timed' as a party/good time album, however it chugs along without ever making it out of second gear, and with an over-reliance on the use of bass to boot. I certainly wouldn't get up and dance to it (mind you, it takes a lot to get me dancing, and I wouldn't exactly call it 'dancing' either?). The only two half decent tracks on the album are 'Thirty Years', and 'Can Jesse Be In The Band' (if only by virtue of the fact it's slower than the other mid-tempo stuff, and a change was extremely welcome listening to the album). The best thing about the album is the fact that it's a mercifully short forty-five minutes long? handy if you've a spare side of a tape.

With Dublin producing the best band in the country at the moment (The Jimmy Cake in case you're wondering) and a lot more besides, and those multimedia wizards Cane 141 doing Galway proud, it's worrying that this is what's being touted as the next big thing in Cork. Long live The Frank and Walters?

Ciaran Wrenn

(bullet) This review provoked an interesting discussion on the CLUAS discussion board. Check out the discussion on this review by clicking here.