90s Cup Final Round Match 8 *Modernist 14- Loki 5*

[never/ever]

A

Saint Etienne - Hobart Paving





B

Bran Van 3000 - Drinking in LA

[copehead]

B

[Diamond Dog]

B is one of those things that kind of exists but doesn't actually live. It's just there.

A is lovely - the brass solo is exquisite and the song itself is just really really sweet. Much the better of the two.

[Polishgirl]

Bloody hell; a good Saint Etienne song.

I do like B, but it's never been something that bears repeated listening, so I'm surprising myself and going

A

[C]

Abstain




.

[Purgatory Brite]

A

[Dayodead]

A

[The Modernist]

I'll confess there's something so achingly sad about A that I have to be in the mood for it, but when I am its delicate yearning can be very moving. Its a beautiful arrangement, DD has mentioned the brass, but that harmonica is wonderful as well.

B is cheap and cheerful pop that hasn't got much beyond its hook (like a lot of these songs it uses a rap to try and disguise this and pad things out a bit). Bit of a Harvester meal of a track, fine if you're a bit hungry but something you're going to forget at the moment you've finished it.

A

[Loki]

[Darkness_Fish]

Is A teetering on the edge of a twee cheesiness that it can't recover from? Or is it actually acceptable? Hmm, it's got the end-of-rom-com-second-act montage feel to it. She's just looking through a box of photographs on a bed with too many pillows and cushions right now, before staring out of a rain-drizzled window.

Bran van 3000, I'd almost forgotten the existence of this track, and it was everywhere 20 years ago. One of the all-time most irritating song intros. When the languid indie-rap starts, it's not too bad, but the female vocals don't really add anything but more irritation. It is one of those tracks that feels constructed by MTV committee.

I'm quite torn, I think A is too twee to be stomached, but B is that kind of cynically empty pop track that wants to be used as backing in an advert for designer beard wax. A gets it for the instrumental break.

[toomanyhatz]

Once again I'm with Mr. _Fish. A is too precious by half, but B is the sort of thing you might hear in a restaurant that might perk up your ears for 30 seconds. By the 3rd minute I felt like it was an unavoidable radio hit, and I'm not sure I've ever heard it before. I suppose it's catchy, but not in a way that gives me any pleasure.

[Penk!]

I may have spoken too soon saying that DF, hatz and I would never agree again: their sentiments chime with my overall feelings about Saint Etienne: too twee and smooth. I like A a lot more than they do, though: it's the group's moment of glory.

B is excruciating. Simultaneously smug and desperate.

[Jumper K]

B.

[trans-chigley express]

A

[Rayge]

fuller consideration on next page

[Ranking Ted]

A deserves better than the muted praise it’s receiving, it’s a heartbreaker. B is one of those “just okay” pop hits of yore. Fine while it’s on but I’ll never be in a rush to hear it. Easy

A

[never/ever]

I think B is a great track. Nice keyboard hook, good vocal and appealing throughout. One I don't mind in a jukebox when I'm playing pool.
A is indeed luvverly, blah de blah blah arrangement, brass and shit......

A

[WG Kaspar]

A

[Buddha B-Rex]

B

[algroth]

Christ, this matchup. Both felt like maudlin affairs to me. I'm tempted to go for B because I guess there's a nice texture or the likes happening in the background, but the lead vocals and rapping are far more insufferable than anything in A. Gah. I might come back to this later, or not at all.