From the ashes of the unfairly-derided Carter USM came Jim Super Stereoworld, into a time when the era of 1991 isn’t quite far enough away to be cool again.. Carter being the band of two halves that they were - Fruitbat providing the thrashy punka singalong guitarfests, and Jim Bob providing the more reflective, introspective lyrics and electronic flourishes, its not hard to figure out what Jims Super Stereoworld sound like. Bluntly put, its the same type of thing Carter were doing a few years ago without a boatload of big guitars. And that’s no bad thing.
There are still big drums, infectious choruses that should be sung by boys half his age, and great big splodges of pop flourishes. The lyrics are also fantastic - “Tight Pants” reveals the hidden side of every wedding, where ‘someone from every generation is dancing to the very last song’ in a slyly cruel portrayal of suburban life as accurate, and biting, as John Betjeman or Philip Larkin. And yet it sounds like great, grown up pop music. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few years time Jim Bob is the secret svengali behind the first of many indie boybands - all he needs to do is hole himself up, make great pop records, and get loads of teenagers to jump around pretending to play and sing on them.
Like all things pop, it is designed to be disposable, almost transparent, yet produced with immaculate care and of hidden depths. If you like infuritatingly melodic pop music, a understated sense of humour, and big stomping drums, then this should do nicely.
At nine songs - and 26 minutes - for around about £8, you can’t go far wrong in driving a Big Flash Car On A Saturday Night. My only complaint is that I wish the ride was longer.
-
8Mark Reed's Score