“More fantastically random than the sum of their parts” Album Review: Fickle Public - Bucko

Signed to the label run by the Jetplane Landing boys, Smalltown America, Fickle Public have found a happy home for their angular rock spazz attacks and jerky rhythms. 'Bucko' recalls numerous Brit acts, those who like to keep their listeners on tenter hooks. So the amusingly titled 'Just Like I Got Used To Saying Courtney Cox Arquette' makes like JPL, followed by the Jarcrew mimickery of 'Five Four To The Floor' and pilfering of Mclusky's back catalogue is rife. They so often sound like Seafood's more petulant siblings and even touch on the unsettled aggressive nature of Six By Seven, but you get the feeling that these boys don't take themselves too seriously. 'Bucko' represents a valiant effort which only misses the mark on rare occasion; this patchwork of sounds and influences makes something newer and more fantastically random than the sum of their parts.

© New Noise 2006