Ikara Colt
"Basic Instructions" CD EP (Epitaph)
On some days, a jumbled, unfocused mess of vaguely electronic music mixed with edgy, angular guitar and vocals which are so slurred that they sound like they were recorded in a pub after last call might be appealing. However, this jumbled, unfocused mess jumps styles between bands like The Fall and Wire and their more modern reinterpretations by the upstarts over at GSL and 31G and, frankly, tries to light up a substantial amount of previously mined territory with a candle instead of Klieg lights. It may be unkind to say, but I sincerely hope that - while they're down the shaft, looking for diamonds in a thoroughly depleted hole - they get lost and don't come back.