British Whale - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us (Atlantic)
UK release date: 15 August 2005
Hold on to your trousers, it's Justin
Hawkins! And he's ready once again to reach notes
grown men can only dream of with his first solo
single - a reverent cover of the Sparks
classic. Although the guitars remain, Hawkins is using
the British Whale moniker to introduce some '80s-style
synthesized wizardry to complement his '70s
extravagance. Hugely retro of course, and with bells
on - towards the end of the song, in fact.
Mind you, if you think the notes he reaches here
are lofty, wait until you've heard the B-side, the
original composition America, written with Chas
Bayfield. It starts with a keyboard backing in the
style of Van Halen, Hawkins going on to scream;
"I love America, cos America loves me!"
The tongue might well be firmly in cheek here,
but whether it is or not, Hawkins remains irredeemably
British, and this eccentric pop riot rubber stamps
that fact.
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