First things first – is ‘Let’s All Have A Disco’ a joke track? Having first met the My Awesome Compilation lads back in 2001, I know they’re a bunch of cheeky chappies and the first time I heard this split EP’s first track, I did think it was the band poking fun at the current ‘disco’ trend. But then the more I listened, the more I thought ‘hmm, maybe this is series after all?’ The first new material from the band since the release of their debut album, the track has polarised fans. Not so much completely down the middle, more the fact that 90 per cent of the people I’ve spoken to hate it.
Sure, it’s not a patch on anything from ‘Every Souvenir…’ and most of the tracks on ‘Actions’ are far superior too. Chris’ vocals seem to have ditched the mockney slant they took last time round, making them sound slightly more rounded, but it’s the bizarre ‘let’s all have a disco’ refrain which makes this track sound as if MAC have either sold us out down the river of nu-rave, or are all sniggering behind our backs. Either way, it’s arguably the chessiest, and possibly worst, song they’ve released yet. ‘Save Yourself’, mind you, is a tune. ‘Traditional’ MAC, it’s everything the band do best and saves them from a complete slaughtering. One out of two ain’t bad.
Orko, on the other hand, will possibly be catching MAC up in the popularity stakes by the summer. Their latest album was a blast, full of cool indie-rock anthems and while one of the cuts on this slab of 10″ vinyl is taken from that release, the other song is just as good. With Tellison set to release new material soon too, it shows the Gravity DIP stable is certainly alive and kicking. Let’s just hope they don’t down tools and have a disco in the meantime…