I’ll come right to the point: Kate Nash’s follow-up to her debut album, called My Best Friend Is You, is not even close to comparing with that first collection of songs on what was maybe an album filled with beginner’s luck, Made of Bricks. The main problem lies in Nash’s struggle to sound like she has “grown” as an artist, while still clinging to the streetwise bitch that appeared on Made of Bricks.
Umbrellas: A staple of Britishism
A case in point of this musical split personality is track five of M.B.F.I.Y., “Take Me To A Higher Plane,” which sees Nash try to imitate the screaming vocals of “Mariella,” one of the best songs on Made of Bricks.
Cover of My Best Friend Is You
“Do-Wah-Doo,” the first single from the M.B.F.I.Y, is its strongest in terms of radio friendliness, but it should be interesting to see what Nash chooses as her second single, since there really isn’t another song quite as good. “Paris” maybe, but that is the only real contender for “Do-Wah-Doo.” Moreover, “Kiss That Grrl” would be a bit too gimmicky to select as the successor single because it has a 60s sound as well.
60s chic for the "Do-Wah-Doo" video
Another ill-advised maneuver is Kate Nash reading from her slam book (okay, I’m totally making that up, but that’s really what it sounds like). Called “Mansion Song,” it begins with a one minute, thirty-five second rant about a certain kind of woman that wants to be “fucked and then rolled over” and then segues into a brief little ditty, probably the biggest waste of space on the album. I’m afraid only John Lennon can get away with “talking songs” that digress into nonsense.
"I want to be fucked and then rolled over 'cause I'm an independent woman of the twenty-first century"
From there, it gets a little better, with “Early Christmas Present,” “Later On,” and “Pickpocket” all coalescing into one endless song, being that they all sound very similar and generic. Nash then breaks up the troika of fast-paced songs with the folksy slow jam “You Were So Far Away.”
Go back to the start: Made of Bricks, the album that is impossible for My Best Friend Is You to outshine
“I Hate Seagulls,” a vague sequel to “Birds,” is the second to last song, continuing the pattern of downtrodden songs (“I hate rude, ignorant bastards and I hate snobbery”). It also feels the pretentious need to have an approximately two and a half minute pause before another hidden track on the song starts to play. The hidden track portion, “My Best Friend Is You,” is, incidentally, better than the song that calls itself “I Hate Seagulls.”
Cribs frontman with his less talented girlfriend Kate Nash
“R n B Side,” the concluding track, is, needless to say, not even close to being good enough to compensate for the thirteen GarageBand level songs that precede it. Appropriately, for this review, the lyrics of “R n B Side” are “Why do you have to be such a wanker?” Sorry, I call it like I see it. Nash should really just stick to being Ryan Jarman’s (of The Cribs) arm candy because it doesn’t seem like any of his talent is rubbing off on her.
Comments
Oh my fucking GOD!! Who are you to write such an arrogant, unobjective, rhetorically shitty piece of crap?! I reckon you’ve never done anything that means something to you in your entire life!!!
@Mariella – you go, girl!
I have seen Kate play live and she is brilliant, really talented and full of passion.
I respect your views but i think you are completely wrong on this.
Kate is an inspiration to everyone and personally i think both albums are fantastic.
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you IGNORANT CUNT!!!! mansion song is definitely not a waste of fucking space, thank you very much. she is a diverse songwriter. and she is developing continuously as an artist. fuck you. how dare you?
you under estimate the girl.