Its all over bar the Sing-Sing (Sing-sing And I - Sing-Sing)

Member Name: raypdaley182

Product:	Sing-sing And I - Sing-Sing
Date:	19/09/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good tunes

Disadvantages: Some not so great ones either & it was their last album

Sing-Sing were formed in 1997 after Emma Anderson left Lush & was joined by singer Lisa O'Neill (who appears to have had no life prior to the formation of this group at all), the group existed as 2 members but with other musicians who joined them for live performances. Anderson wrote the songs, played guitars (all of them) but O'Neill mostly sang but did write 5 songs on this album and co-wrote one too.

Sing-Sing started out releasing EPs much in the same way as Lush but had a much smaller fanbase, they struggled with record companies working their way through Bella Union, Sanctuary Records and Poptones before creating Aerial which was their own label and it took fan power to keep the band financially stable enough to record this which was their 2nd and final album which had taken 4 years to come to fruition. The band decided to break up in 2007.

So whats on Sing-Sing And I?

01 - Lover (Anderson) 2:28.
Its certainly got a Lush type feel but a clearer guitar & vocal line more reminiscent of Lush's 1st few tracks on their final album. Its also got quite a Britpop feel to it with the guitar line & was released as a single in 2005 with no recorded chart position.

The video for this is rather bizarre as its an animated story about a crossdressing man who falls in love with & buys a shop dummy who becomes alive when "she" takes it to see Sing-Sing live.

02 - Come, Sing Me A Song (O'Neill) 3:38.
A rather groovy 60's type feel to this one its very much like the work of Sandy Shaw or Dusty Springfield and you could imagine it would have been rather successful in 1965 so I guess its a crying shame it was written and released in as a single in 2006 again with no recorded chart position. Its quite a laid back track and would make quite a good film theme I think.

03 - Mister Kadali (O'Neill) 3:59.
This has a rather weird start with all the samples of various radio stations being tuned in & out, the song appears to be about a healer & the tune itself is very like stuff from The Kinks but it mainly reminds me of Lazy Sunday Afternoon by The Small Faces. I'm already starting to see a pattern that Lisa O'Neill only wrote 60's sounding songs. I guess we'll see if that theory holds up across the album.

04 - A Modern Girl (Anderson) 3:49
Wow, this is very much classic old school Lush tune cranked up over vocals that are right low down in the mix but still suitably layered & quite sirenlike. This sounds like it was written to appeal to the Lush crowd & it gets my thumbs up for sure. This track had originally appeared on the Madame Sing-Sing EP released in 2004.

05 - Ruby (O'Neill) 3:25.
Another track from the Madame Sing-Sing EP and yes its pretty 60's sounding (rather trippy in a Beatles "Within Without you" style). Lisa O'Neill had clearly been staying with Ravi Shankar when she wrote this one. The vocal style is almost like very early Kate Bush too.

06 - I Do (O'Neill) 3:32.
Yet another one lifted off the Madame Sing-Sing EP however the version on that was the I Re-Do Mix, this is also quite 60's in its feel & reminds me of "Day Tripper" or "Tax Man" by The Beatles. The harmonica line is very Bob Dylan protest song style though.

07 - Going Out Tonight (Anderson, O'Neill) 3:35.
A joint effort by both women, you can tell Emma Anderson wrote the guitar line as its very Lush inspired and that phased vocal intro was also totally her idea too. I wonder if she was missing former Lush bandmate Miki Berenyi when she wrote her bits for this, rather unusual this wasn't released as a single as I think former Lush fans would have gone absolutely mental for it as its rather brilliant.

08 - Unseen (Anderson) 4:34.
This is quite blissfully mellow & those layered vocals come in over the chorus section so more of a return to her Lush roots for Emma here. I think its only the lack of guitar effects or the fact the guitar lines are mixed equally with everything else it could almost be something that never made a Lush album. I could imagine Miki singing & liking this, I know I do. The mixture of guitar, vocal & electronica merge sublimely.

09 - The Time Has Come (Anderson) 3:46.
Quite a subdued song with the acoustic guitar and minimal backing but it soon fills out with the unexpected extra vocals and brass section. Its almost like someone wrote a song on the fly in an Irish pub and recorded it live then folks just decided to join in. Its oddly enjoyable though & the tune reminds me of "Cuz I Luv you" by Slade, I think its the chord structure. I think this tune would definately grow on you with more listens.

10 - When I Was Made (Anderson) 4:03.
Quite a plain vocal and tune which is quite surprising from Emma but the vocals are very nice & remind me of stuff like "Love Fool" by The Cardigans, the guitar line is nice and uncomplicated too. I think this would have made quite a good single as well.

11 - A Kind Of Love (O'Neill) 6:45.
The intro to this reminds me of Enya but it also reminds me of Limp Bizkits version of "Behind Blue Eyes" as well, I would hazard a guess that Lisa O'Neill was trying to write her own Lush style song here as the tune and vocal style wouldn't be out of place on most of their albums. A nice guitar based tune filled out with the vocal line that is rather difficult to explain.

It was sad that this proved to be the final album for Sing-Sing as they hadn't done much in their decade together as a band. Perhaps the world wasn't ready for them?

(this review also appears on Ciao)

Summary: Sing-Sing bow out after a decade & 2 albums