Think of it like this; a band who have been plugging away for the past nine years or so in their home country are suddenly offered a huge record deal overseas. Meanwhile, somewhere in Dublin, the members of Aslan stroke their chins and wonder what they're doing wrong. Perhaps they need a song as huge as the above-mentioned Parlotones, a band whose 'Beautiful' is currently soundtracking a FujiFilm ad on a TV screen near you (yes, that one - 'You are allll bee-yoo-tifallll.. you are allll magic-kal') and which provided the golden ticket to the three-album Universal deal. Lead singer and songwriter Kahn Morbee has previously alluded to the fact that he is influenced by '80s bands such as The Smiths - but on the evidence of Radiocontrolledrobot, a group like Dire Straits is closer to the mark. The Johannesburg quartet's third album has been released in their home country since 2005, even picking up a 'Best Rock Album' gong at the South African Music Awards; but the rock on display here will appeal solely to daytime radio listeners. It's pleasant, inoffensive, and subsequently very predictable music-by-numbers. Louder Than Bombs's Kaiser Chiefs-style stadium rock certainly explodes, but with little charisma; the title track is a grating, mid-paced Killers cast-off, while Interlude (The Impossible), Colourful and Tiny are all vacant piano ballads in the mold (mould) of Coldplay. The quarter (not even half)-decent tracks here (Beautiful's huge, catchy chorus and Rock. Paper. Scissors.'s sharp instrumentation, which is eerily reminiscent of our own Stunning) are still too average to be even vaguely interesting, while lyrically, Morbee is.. well, crap (see: all of Dragonflies and Astronauts). In other words, The Parlotones sound will probably do extremely well in Ireland. I wonder have Aslan ever considered a move to Cape Town?
