UNDERGROOVE Alright (President)

"Alright" is the debut single release from this five-year-old trio, whose (press spiel coming up, don’t spare the salt) "infectious music has ensured that every gig they play is a PARTY. No wonder - they come from Newcastle upon Tyne which could be called PARTY CITY". Ladies and gentlemen, subtlety has just left the building, and I’m building a protective shelter out of my Tindersticks and Lullaby For The Working Class albums.

Apart from having the audacity to call a song "Alright" after Supergrass, Undergroove should be congratulated on how fully formed and, darn it, professional they sound. Their music is a chunky amalgam of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Beastie Boys ("Alright") and Nine Inch Nails-lite ("Flatline"), and bassist/vocalist Mark Thompson does a nice line in late-Steven Tyler tonsil exercises. But to me, well, it’s all a bit, you know, for kids. With the right promotion (which, as they’re on the same label as Rick Wakeman, I fear they’ll struggle to obtain) they could probably clean up in the teenage wannabe rebel market - and I mean that as a compliment.