Singles

The Pistolas - Hey! Hey! Hey!

Tom Blackburn 01/02/2008

Rating: 2/5

Just when you thought the dying embers of punk-funk had been well and truly extinguished, along comes another set of young upstarts - one-time Mumm-Ra support band (!) The Pistolas, to be exact - to see if there's any more mileage to be had from the flagging sub-genre.

There isn't. In their previous incarnation, The Pistolas were garage rockers in the vein of The Jam, but now that the post-Libertines gash-rock juggernaut has run out of steam, the band (and of course they're not alone in doing this) have switched to producing yet more of the post-punk fare apparently so beloved of the sharp-fringed Skins brigade.

Hey! Hey! Hey! is just about serviceable but in the cold light of day, it's worthless. Its chunky bassline and propulsive drums are standard, but the whole affair is hamstrung by cringeworthy lyrics straight outta 2005 ('I saw your party face / On the pictures on Myspace') that are certain to make you feel like going out and committing genocide.

B-side The Wrong Stuff is similarly unadventurous, sticking rigidly with the formula of Hey Hey Hey but chucking - would you credit it - synths and programmed drums into the mix in a token attempt at experimentation. Its saving grace is that it passes by quickly enough, in just over two minutes.

Personality and soul are notable by their absence and quite frankly everything about this release feels totally half-arsed, from the song titles to the lyrics to the straight-down-the-middle execution. This is indie disco ambulance-chasing of the most mundane and forgettable kind.

Crafting poppy hooks aimed solely at the dancefloor is a deceptively tricky thing to do without sounding like some sort of pastiche. Les Savy Fav manage it, Professor Murder manage it, !!! manage it but The Pistolas seem to think danceable indie has to be as dumb as a rock and until they discover some semblance of wit and invention they'll never be anything more than also-rans. Back to the drawing board, boys.


Release Date: 4/2/08