Monocle Rose

**Hannah Edney** · 10:28 PM

After creating something of a buzz on the internet with their debut single ‘Lolly’ in April, Monocle Rose are hoping to climb the ladder of indie success with their follow-up, ‘Alley Cat’, and it’s turned out to be a bit of a pop choon. After the first listen, I was humming this little ditty for the rest of the day. It’s very pretty, in a punk with nice harmonies kind of way. It’s also very ‘90s, but as we know from the recent success of bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Teenage Fanclub-a-likes Exlovers making their way out of the woodwork, they seem to be just in time to ride the rock-band wagon.

The lead singer Rosa sounds just like, and I mean JUST like, leading lady of The Duke Spirit Leila Moss, but the band’s sound as a whole is much more punk and much more garage. Looking at them, they’re straight out of the riot grrrl movement, with red Doctor Martins, punk hairdos and tattoos aplenty, but their songs are more pop niceties than screaming feminism. They remind me a bit, and this is meant in the best possible way, of Lauren Laverne’s band Kenickie – remember them? It’s the tongue-in-cheek punkiness, the knowing irony of looking and being ‘alternative’ when the ‘alternative’ trend is anything but. They’ve got fun and a bit of pisstake about them, and seem to write fairly decent, catchy pop songs.

The b-side, ‘It’s A Kick’, isn’t as strong as the title track, but what can we expect from a b-side? It’s got the same clever singalong harmonies and grungy guitar hooks as ‘Alley Cat’, but doesn’t have as much of a catchy melody.

If your time was the 90s, and, like me, you used to love bands like Elastica because they were punk enough to be cool but pop enough to sing songs that sounded cute, Monocle Rose will take you back. They may not be as youthful or sprightly as some bands hanging around in East and North London at the minute, but at least they sound like they know what they’re doing.

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altsounds · Comment Posted on: September 15, 2009, 10:30 PM

Sweet review. The woman one from the left looks like the woman off Men Behaving Badly! Don't know what her name is but she is the spit in this photo.

P.S. Hannah can you upload an avatar please.

pacmunchkin · Comment Posted on: September 16, 2009, 03:39 PM

Something so familiar, yet so bland.

There's something very recognisable about Monocle Rose. Part Blondie, part Catatonia, part something else. Yet, while emulating artists that I very much enjoy, there's something very unlikable about Alley Cat.

The slightly piercing vocals, the uninspiring guitar riffs, there's so many things that simply miss the mark and drop this CD straight into the dustbin.

There's nothing I can really grasp onto in Alley Cat and listening to it while I type this, I'm cringing over and over again, as another putrid squirt of sputum projects itself at me. I really wish that I was quicker at typing, as this single track repeats at 3:19, cycling round and round causing me to go insane.

We start off, the introduction on the guitar sounds like it's being played by someone who's been playing for a very short period of time. Then the song kicks in and nothing improves, there's nothing there. There's no life, no passion and the musicianship is no better. There are points that are just plain embarrassing, the whole of the ending is just a confused shambles.

I feel like I'm being a bit harsh with this review, but once a band causes you physical pain with their music, there's really no going back.

Hopefully they have plenty of friends that will go to their gigs.

Heron · Comment Posted on: September 18, 2009, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by pacmunchkin

Something so familiar, yet so bland.

There's something very recognisable about Monocle Rose. Part Blondie, part Catatonia, part something else. Yet, while emulating artists that I very much enjoy, there's something very unlikable about Alley Cat.

The slightly piercing vocals, the uninspiring guitar riffs, there's so many things that simply miss the mark and drop this CD straight into the dustbin.

There's nothing I can really grasp onto in Alley Cat and listening to it while I type this, I'm cringing over and over again, as another putrid squirt of sputum projects itself at me. I really wish that I was quicker at typing, as this single track repeats at 3:19, cycling round and round causing me to go insane.

We start off, the introduction on the guitar sounds like it's being played by someone who's been playing for a very short period of time. Then the song kicks in and nothing improves, there's nothing there. There's no life, no passion and the musicianship is no better. There are points that are just plain embarrassing, the whole of the ending is just a confused shambles.

I feel like I'm being a bit harsh with this review, but once a band causes you physical pain with their music, there's really no going back.

Hopefully they have plenty of friends that will go to their gigs.

Hey stop reviewing reviews and spend the time getting our lists down

altsounds · Comment Posted on: September 18, 2009, 08:45 PM

In fairness this was on his list of to do and someone else jumped in with a
review of this first so his had to become a reply. Nice to see the
conflicting opinions though.

Heron · Comment Posted on: September 19, 2009, 12:32 PM

Funnily enough I did think it was just his own review at first, but then I read this wrong I think:

"I feel like I'm being a bit harsh with this review"

and thought it was more of a review of the review.

Not that there is anything wrong with reviewing reviews anyway as I was only kidding, so all is good.

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> Home > Reviews | Monocle Rose - Alley Cat [Single]

Monocle Rose - Alley Cat [Single]

September 15, 2009, 01:39 PM

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