Ringo Deathstarr - Sparkler

Five seconds in and and we get the famous My Bloody Valentine drum fill. Ah, plagiarism, it's the biggest form of flattery/laziness. And they are all at it these days and don't the kids just love it. Ringo Deathstarr have already released a decent debut album this year and hot on its heels is this vinyl only (hurrah) compilation of early singles. It sounds like an amalgamation of all those bands you loved in your youth who knew how to mangle a distorted guitar.  The aforementioned MBV, Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, Chapterhouse, Medicine, Swirlies as well as the more recent copycats from Serena Maneesh onwards. 'Down on You' is classic 'Strawberry Wine and Ecstasy'-era My Bloody Valentine. Flip over the record and you get the baggy beats of those later My Bloody Valentine singles
and some lovely hazy 'Isn't Anything' vibes on the drifting aptly-named 'Summertime' and 'Your Town'.  All of which would be wonderful had it not already been done countless times before. You have to hand it to them, though, it's a perfect parody even down to the song titles...'Swirly', 'Some Kind of Sad', 'No Evil Star'. Some real care has gone into it. And I must mention the packaging - the vinyl is amazing - a kind of cloud/blue sky combination which combined with the speckled pink label is a visual treat.