Single Reviews 23/08/09

With a new week comes a new batch of singles (except for the fact that’s not technically correct now the chart is made up from almost 100% downloads with no defined release date), so we’re here once more to sift through the slurry and bring you the gems (except for the fact we make a point to leave the slurry in as well). Sit back and let the scrunity commence...

Stateside electro-newbie Sky Ferreira opens proceedings with the bibbling, overtweaked One. It’s instantaneously maddening stuff, the scratched CD loop effect worsening an otherwise fairly passable iPod filler-outer. It’s not the greatest introduction to an artist, who, while not quite at Pixie Lott levels of dead-eyed pointlessness, doesn’t seem to offer much aside from autotune abuse and a range of porno expressions.

Those all-American mainstays of mom-rock, the Goo Goo Dolls, are back with their ninth album, preceded by the somewhat predictable single Home. It’s every inch the Goo Goo Dolls, all imposing melodies and elevating lyrics and typically radio-courting riffs – the quality is there, but it was perhaps foolish to hope for a drum ‘n’ bass breakdown and a guest MC.

One-time X Factor finalists The Unconventionals at long last get around to unveiling Strawberry Sunshine, a lightly-comedic, cheddar-inflected summer ditty which has been languishing on the release schedules for a good two years. They’re less likely to be associated with The X Factor than they are to be mistaken for the Mike Flowers Pops, and yet, they’ve got a million times more personality than eventual winner Leona Lewis. But then, so does a pitta bread.

And our Single of the Week is awarded to the debut solo effort from Brandon Flowers, the mightily-impressive Crossfire. It’s close to topping some of the Killers’ best material, its unashamedly grandiose pop melodies melding nicely with a wee touch of rock-lite sharpness. Not to say it’s at all disposable, merely a more diffused sound, which bodes incredibly well for forthcoming album Flamingo.