Following in the wake of the Streets’ Original Pirate Material, this amiable West London duo emerged in 2003, riding the wave of interest in English pop that purported to describe the daily life of twentysomething British slackers. Generation doesn’t quite muster the youth-culture frisson that their debut, Ego War, did; stylish young Brits have moved on from the duo’s witty sampledelica to taut dance rock like that offered by Bloc Party and Futureheads. But producer Tom Dinsdale and frontman Simon Franks do manage a couple of moments that suggest they’re savvier craftsmen than their tangle with ubiquity implied. Lead single “Shot You Down” adds sly two-step beats to Nancy Sinatra’s supremely spooky “Bang Bang”; it’s a remix of Sinatra’s original in the same way that Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (which featured “Bang Bang” in its title sequence) was a remix of the director’s beloved martial-arts flicks. And “Keep On Moving” makes great use of an old Steely Dan lick. “Me and trouble got along just fine,” Franks brags, but the tune’s mellow chorus contradicts the ominous vibe.
On the Web
___
Audiobullys: http://www.audiobullys.co.uk
