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1. Melanie (single version) 2. Melanie (Joshy'n'Roxy punk'd version) 3. I'm A Plankin' Planker 4. It's The End Of The World (live, ft. Bikki) 1. Love Of My Life 2. Goodbye (ft. Joshy, Katie & Mimi) This is a breakthrough for Firecracker 47. Something really new and grown-up in a way. They're not only introducing Modi as the new drummer, but really introducing James. He's always been just the backup, there to catch Joshy (undebatably the main act) when he falls, now with him not only doing most of the singing, but writing lyrics that mean something to him. "'Melanie' is what you take it as," he says. "I wrote it about a lot of things, because I had a lot of things to write about." James isn't an open book. If people had put about that Ida Firecracker wasn't Joshy's, or that Joshy had vitiligo, it'd be front page news - but since it's Cody Kairiri and James having those issues, James refuses to talk to any media. "I'm not a man for gossip. I don't mind people knowing, but my son and my skin aren't the media's problems, it'll only make things worse if they are. So Katie and I deal with them ourselves, and I write about them in metaphors, in music."
Mikki's song is very different. Being as it was co-written with Bikki, it has a few WTF moments ("I can see the veins inside my eyes" - that line is so Bikki it's untrue), but overall, it's just a pop song about a girl finding the love of her life. "Obviously it's about Jake," says Mikki, who has had a full-on crush on Jake Wilson, the fiancé of Brittany Knox, ever since she met him. "Who else?" Ryan Ross Hernandez, maybe? "Oh, Ryan, he's a great guy and I really like him, but he'll never be Jake, and Brittany will never be me." She grits her teeth. Mikki is clearly quite the opposite to James when it comes to washing your dirty linen in public. She thrives on it. Anyway, about the song lyrics - genuine, fairly well-written, but there's still that element of 'fuck you' in there. Even if it didn't turn out that way thanks to Bikki being weird, the blueprint is obvious.
Now I hear a drum, a drum, something wicked this way comes! There are other instruments in these, but it's the drums you're going to be listening out for. Mikki vs. Modi - different styles or is one better than the other? Well - both. Despite Mikki receiving a lot of coaching from drum queen Nick Biggs, she's still what Kaethe Jenkins is to guitars. She'll never learn. You're better off as a singer, Mikki. Meanwhile, we have Modigliana Blunt. She's a Blunt - related to pop legend Emma Blunt, Moronics singer Maddy B and rock star wannabe Machete. She bleeds talent. She also was in Moronic Changeling, and being in a band which requires so many different styles requires a lot of ability. Sorry Mikki, but the ex-con wins on the talent stakes.
B-sides - you could easily say that you get a mix and an original B-side and a cover, compared to just a cover on Mikki's - but that cover interestingly contains Joshy Firecracker, Katie Kairiri and Mimi Van Der Woodsen. Haven't heard that name in a long time! Whatever happened to the rest of The Nightside Bikithan Cat Collective? The band was cut in half - while Katie, James and Mikki sought further fame with Firecracker 47, Dizzy, Freddy and Mimi went into obscurity. But here's Mimi, being a Spice Girl alongside her former bandmate? It's got to be worth a listen. With F47's cover, they performed live in Kiribati with Bikki recently, to celebrate the 'rapture'. They did a cover of 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' by R.E.M - it's a bit messy and not studio quality, but it's good stuff, 'Bikoshy' work well, belting it out together. Not to mention, very appropriate. "We weren't going to wait until 2012 to release this," says Joshy.
As for the other F47 B-sides, is it more for your money or just filler? One the former, one the latter. Joshy and Roxy's punk version of 'Melanie' is brilliant. While the single is jazzier and bassier than what we're used to, the Firecracker twins bring out the rock style that was all over their debut album, that you love in Firecracker 47, if you love them. "This isn't as good as the single, otherwise it would be the single - but it's pretty damn arse good," says Roxy. "However, I can't say the same about Joshy's song about planking." I'm agreed with Roxy on this one. Unlike both versions of 'Melanie' and 'It's The End Of The World', which could be put on repeat, 'I'm A Plankin' Planker' is a song to listen to once. When you're drunk. Very drunk. The song is just Joshy arsing around. The lyrics are quite funny at times, but the best part of the song by far is Roxy. You can feel that she's pissed off, doesn't want to play, and that somehow makes her strumming even better.
And finally, the artwork. I'm going to skim over this. Much as I like the look of the fractal on 'Melanie', the art of 'Love Of My Life' is far better. I like Mikki's musical logo, and I like Mikki's look. She's a very pretty lady, and she looks just right.
So what do you think? Which are you buying?-Cayla- Edited by user 24 May 2011 03:18:23(UTC)
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