SINGLE REVIEW: LITTLE MAN TATE – HEY LITTLE SWEETIE

Skint/Yellow Van Records – September 8th 2008 – CD, 7” & Download

September 12, 2008, 06:15 PM

Views: 906   Comments: 1

Buy SINGLE REVIEW: LITTLE MAN TATE – HEY LITTLE SWEETIE From Amazon.com

On the one hand, I can understand why Little Man Tate have chosen Hey Little Sweetie as the follow up to What Your Boyfriend Said, the first single to be taken from that eternally tricky second album. Like What Your Boyfriend Said it’s packed with a fun loving boyish nature that will appeal to fans of The Fratellis and fellow Yorkshiremen The Pigeon Detectives. It’s a track blessed with jaunty guitar twangling, a pretty wicked solo, an upbeat disco spirit and an almost annoyingly catchy hook; Four elements certain to ensure a level of radio play capable of attracting new listeners to a band who’s impressive 2006 debut LP struggled for commercial success under the Arctic weight of Sheffield’s Monkey empire. Good choice then.

On the other hand, it does seem rather strange to afford such a high profile to a track which lyrically seems to bad-mouth a demographic that must make up a fair percentage of the bands fan base. Hey Little Sweetie tells a tale of a young ladies time away at university that probably tells us more about the mindset of the songwriter, than the average young woman’s campus experience. Jon Windle piously reprimands this little sweetie for being a naughty little girl in a dirty little world, sneeringly belittles her experimentation with drink and drugs, implies a looseness in her morals that would make her mother blush and finishes off with the implication that her graduation was a waste of time.

So long as you’re not an easily offended female university student, there’s plenty to like about Hey Little Sweetie. However, it’s far from the stand out track on Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy, and it is a little disappointing to this degree holding Yorkshireman that such a talented Sheffield four-piece have chosen to continue the very Northern pastime of knocking those who chose further education .

Although it’s a long way from cutting social commentary, Hey Little Sweetie is a quick slice of indie fun, Little Man Tate’s best, however is definitely yet to come.

Reviewed by Winston’s Zen for AltSounds

#1 | Subscribe | Send to Friend | Print | Discipline | Report