The Seal Cub Clubbing Club – Super Science Fiction
There are unwise band names and then there’s The Seal Cub Clubbing Club whose tongue twisting and politically incorrect choice is at least different. Much the same can be said of their music, which draws mostly on 1970’s influences but this quintet from The Wirral are clearly working on their own unique agenda.
Merseyside bands always seem to have a strange obsession with psychedelia and TSCCC are no exception. ‘Lone Planet’ is essentially whimsical soft rock and ‘3ft Of Air’ seems to have borrowed Justin Hawkins from The Darkness but still sounds surprisingly good. Most bizarrely of all is ‘PSPN’; a track which draws comparisons in equal parts from Queen, Rage Against The Machine and the post-punk scene.
Full marks for invention then but all these ideas would be meaningless without good songs. Fortunately, ‘Aurienteering’ is the work of madcap pop genius and ‘Slow-Motion Powerslides (In Dee)’ and ‘Dawn Lamb’ are awash with high-pitched harmonies and hooks. This being a first album – and a very strange one at that – we can’t expect everything to turn to gold; so ‘Song For Haku’ is an experiment in search of a melody and the hidden final track does them no favours once the joke has worn off.
Their MySpace site declares their manifesto as ”Putting The Pop In Unpopular” and it’s a fair assessment of ’Super Science Fiction’ since the music manages to remain simultaneously original and addictive. Shame about the name though which gives the impression they’re a comedy act.
For more from Jon, please read his ‘zine Leonards Lair