Albums

Chikinki - Lick Your Ticket

Alex Worsnip 21/06/2004

Rating: 3/5

It's not out until June 21st, but GodIsInTheTV has had a sneak preview of Lick Your Ticket, the debut album from Bristol outfit Chikinki, purveyors of gloriously trashy electro-pop. The album kicks off with previous single 'Assasinator 13', which is a case in a point - squealing guitars that sound like they were recorded in a tin can, electronics and bass bleeping over the relentless beat, and a cooler-than-thou vocal of 'sex is fun, when you're high...ride on!' The acoustic tones of 'Drink' and the more guitar-driven 'Scissors, Paper, Stone' gorgeously build into electronic, heavy finales, while 'Hate TV' and 'All Eyes' are juddering, bass-driven monsters. Meanwhile, 'Staple Nation' is unusual and sinister, with gothic strings adorning its dark arrangement, and the beautiful 'Bombs' peddles its combination of pastoral pop and lush synths very effectively.

Unfortunately the album does not always pull stunning tunes out of the bag, and though consistently impressive and inventive can lack a certain X-factor. Nothing quite rocks like 'Assasinator 13', with some tracks like 'To Sacrifice A Child' merely drowning in a sea of synths with little substance to back them up. It's always great to see a rock band making full use of electronics, and this has led to comparison for Chikinki to Primal Scream and The Cooper Temple Clause, but they lack the depth and intensity of recent offerings from those bands, much poppier yet less tuneful. Overall, then, a decent and interesting chapter in the music of 2004, and one worth investigating, but not one that will last for decades to come.