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Album Reviews
Album review: Poly Styrene – Generation Indigo (Future Noise Project)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 14 February 2011
On paper, ‘Generation Indigo’ should be incredible. Firstly, Poly Styrene, former frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, is one of the world’s few remaining true punk icons. Secondly, the album is produced by Youth, who’s worked with such luminaries as Killing Joke and Edwyn Collins. Sadly, however, the brilliance by association factor is somewhat dissipated on actually hearing the album.
It’s probably “pastiche” and “social commentary”, but the excruciatingly, well, lame, ‘I Luv Your Sneakers’ is nigh-on unbearable; while the MySpace ditty ‘Virtual Boyfriend’ is equally squirm-inducing. The title track is a departure from the pop-lite pseudo-political comment of much of the album, with thundering bass and reggae beats. ‘Kitsch’, funnily enough, rhymes its eponymous theme with ‘witch’ and ‘bitch’, and manages to induce that sense of watching your mum dance, badly, at a wedding after one too many sherries.
I’m aware this wasn’t ever going to be another ‘World Turned Day Glo’ – but I really, really wanted to love this. Whatever ‘Generation Indigo’ means (should I know this?), if this is the soundtrack to it, I really hope I’m not part of it. EG
Physical release: 28 Mar
