 Saint Etienne This EP was my first taste of Saint Etienne's album Good Humor, which was subsequently issued in the US with a bonus b-sides disc that renders this EP irrelevant. Even given the stylistic growth that has occurred between every album they've released, I was surprised to find that since Tiger Bay, Saint Etienne has developed a very slick late 70s sound, almost pure disco, in the way that term originally was used. They're still retro-Euro, but they've moved on from the 60s French girl-pop they emulated at the beginning to a nearly Giorgio Moroder type of sound. And it's excellent. "Sylvie," the first UK single for the album, begins with melodramatic piano that would make Bruce Springsteen blush, launching into a Donna Summer groove replete with synth strings and furious congas. A good single, though not their best. Sarah Cracknell is still mining the spoiled-brat persona that makes many of the band's songs so hilarious and/or dramatic, but here it seems a bit more self-consciously campy. Pretty funny, but not as much as it could be if you didn't get the idea the band was laughing hysterically playing it back in the studio. "Afraid to Go Home" is a meandering mood piece in classic Saint Etienne b-side mode, featuring 12-string guitars and a hotel lounge electric piano solo. Decent song. "Zipcode" is the best track on the EP, a girl-group style song that I think would have been a better single, actually. Very synth-driven, would have fit well on Tiger Bay, and great lyrics, too. The last track, "Hill Street Connection," sounds like a Bobbi Humphrey album track, and gets sort of into that retro-jazz vein a lot of those acid jazz bands are exploring. It'd be perfect for a British blaxploitation flick, though the market on that would be admittedly small. Never would have expected a Mizell Brothers influence to show up on a Saint Etienne tune. For fans, obviously, this is a no-brainer. Non-fans are directed toward the singles compilation Too Young to Die or the album So Tough to get in on the ground floor. For me, anything this band puts out is worth getting, as they project more style than fifty American bands rolled into one (a thousand if they're all Linkin Park).
Review by Ebersole Elkheart |