The Haiku

Reviewed: "Man Make Fire"

Most of you reading this will know that The Haiku formed from the ashes of splendid hippified popsters Harvey, well known for their sometimes eccentric approach to musicmaking. So, here’s a new line up - which has been slimmed down to a simple guitar (Phil) and drums (Bert) duo and has been rather amusingly described as “a mix of folk and emo”.

Anyway, the cd kicks off with “The News Is: The World Sucks”. Although it blatantly nicks the riff from Travis’ “Tied To The Nineties” we won’t hold that against them as it’s a great track, full of bounce, vigour and a truly memorable chorus. “The asshole rules the world and the nice guy doesn’t bother ‘cause he knows he’ll only finish last”. All in all, a good start.

“Drink It Away” has more of an early Del Amitri sound to it and is a great deal more subtle than its predecessor. There are a few niggles towards the end as Phil’s vocals do tend to struggle with the higher notes but again you cannot deny that the bloke can write a decent tune, even if his voice isn’t always up to it! “From This Chair” follows, which is a quirky little beatlesesque ditty that could have been lifted straight from “The White Album” sessions. The track is peppered with bursts of kazoo, trademark Ringo Starr drum fills and barely lasts two minutes. Brilliant, and a real personal highlight. “Sunshine Follows Rain” is a Phil only track and is a pleasant enough ballad and although it doesn’t set the world on fire, it’s still ok. Closing the cd is “Escape Part 2”, more of the heartfelt swooning indiepop that Phil seems to be able to churn out in his sleep, using double tracked vocals to great effect.

When you sit down to review a cd by a two piece band, there’s always an immediate concern about lack of depth but that’s not remotely present here as the tunes are clearly strong enough to stand up by themselves. As from their Harvey days, the songwriting (in particular the choruses, which are excellent) is still of a very high quality and the injection of tongue in cheek humour on a few of the tracks always helps. On reflection, this is a great little ep, well worth a few quid of anyone’s money and a reminder to all that the popsong is king and always will be. All hail the popsong!

Reviewed by KG

Website: www.thehaiku.co.uk