Hyper-intelligent art rock disguised as garage punk/funk. The first three albums are simply sensational. So many good songs with incisive, sardonic, contrary and plain hilarious lyrics. Not many bands can come up with this type of breathtakingly-good songwriting. It's FUN too. You remember fun don't you?
So many highlights, where to start? Well - Interview With the Chain Gang from the first album is a good place to kick off. This one tells you the roots of the band, the motivation, all done in a mock-interview style. The whole album's good but that's a highlight.

The second album has the best title of all time: Music's Not For Everyone. So true - and yet not everybody acknowledges it. This song hits you with a wave of hiss and ends with a role-call of stellar music, just in case you didn't know any.
Another stand-out is It's A Hard, Hard Job (Keeping Everybody High). More sardonic wit and a real dry sound to the vocals.
I really like Ian Svenonius's cool and witty delivery. Son of Lou Reed to be sure - but such class.

Off the third album I pick Certain Kinds Of Trash and I'm Not Interested (In Being Interested) ... but once again the whole album is pretty ace.

The fourth album is a notch down for me. I certainly haven't listened to it as much. The production didn't sound as good as on the first three. I dunno - I'll have to check it again. I hate to be lukewarm about it. However - it does boast Stuck In a Box. This is a throwaway number and proves that Ian S can probably come up with better songs in his sleep than most other bands at the moment. "Do you like bananas baby, stuck in a box". Indeed.

Years ago I saw Ian's previous band The Make Up live in a weird kind of church hall place in Brighton. The place was packed out. Rammed. He did this thing that Iggy used to do. He kind of stepped into the audience... no he stepped ONTO the audience, kind of climbed up there and was raised above on outstretched arms. At one point I saw he was resting his foot on my boss's head. Funny memory.

"What about politics? Its like a mad dog. You think you can ignore it, at first.
But ultimately - politics - you got to throw a brick. July 26th".
(Interview with the Chain Gang)