Instant Wigwam And Igloo Mixture Go Kart Mozart Released: 13/12/1999 Label: West Midland Records/Cherry Red

by Esther Sadler
Go-Kart Mozart is the latest nom de disque for Lawrence, the mad pop-scientist formerly of both Felt and Denim, bands that inspired everyone from Pulp to Belle And Sebastian. As the dare-you-to-call-me-wacky title of this disc implies, people are a bit odd round Lawrence's way (his "band", if they really exist, are all called things like Brian O'No, Piers Reindeers and Brown Sauce and credited with playing instruments that include "modern machines", "ariel bending" and "dri-weave topsheet"). And songs are even odder. There's the ostentatiously offensive Sailor Boy, the more-than-slightly-unhinged Mrs Back-To-Front And The Bull Ring Thing (combines a prog-rock style nursery rhyme with matineé idol pop) and Hip Op, a touching tribute to our luverly Queen Mum. This is novelty rock, or it would be if it weren't all so damn clever. Drinking Um Bongo, for example combines a TV commercial celebrating cordial with reflections on Rwandan genocide. And there are even perfect proper songs too.
Bafflingly brilliant stuff.