Singles

luxembourg - We Only Stayed Together For the Kids.

Bill Cummings 21/06/2006

Rating: 4/5

Remember when British indie music actually meant something? No, me neither, it's been a long time. Sure there are exceptions but check the charts for guitar bands who do it with a bit of class: all you get is faddy scenesters in drainpipes aping the post-Libs sound or pale lifeless corporate ivory ticklers whose only purpose in the world is to be the soundtrack to a night in Pizza Hut. Or check out MTV2 and you can watch the same five videos on rotation every hour. That's why a band like Luxembourg are so important, more than just a great band who've been providing stunning live performances for over two years or more. They're a band with passion, a band with wit, a bunch of musicians with genuine personality who make up an individual sound: above all they've got the tunes, and that actually speak to us and for us.

New single "We Only Stayed Together For The Kids" (a live favourite) is now unleashed on the general public. The next stage in the Lux masterplan, it's a song about a relationship that's had more than its fair share of rocky patches: full of frontman David's special brand of gallows humour, his vocals pitched perfectly between Morrissey-esque wry observation, and forlorn melodrama throughout. Then when the chorus kicks in ("It's years since I have seen you without clothes/There are times that we only stayed together for the kids/Now I won't do as I am told") It's all fantastic: Pulp synths meets Roxy's melodic urgency, all executed with the raised eyebrow of the Divine Comedy: kick ass drums, stunning harmonies, and Alex's swirling synths riding, Rob's snaking riff that has pop written all over its slippery scales. This is kitchen sink pop at its gleaming best: the thudding bass, signalling the final blast of the chorus, and the pleading finale of the vocals. Lux have that special ability to make a song like this connect beyond the subject matter. It's another throbbing, divine, pop anthem from Britain's most criminally ignored band.