What with the full-on mania of The Scaramanga Six, the dapper pop of Galitza and enigmatic noiseniks Farming Incident, Leeds' Wrath Records have been collating a roster of seriously individualistic talent over the past few years.
However, BEING 747, led by ex-Landspeed Loungers' stalwart Dave Cooke, have been looking increasingly like the label's dark horses for some time. The band's output has been minimal (probably due to Being's other two members being the Scaramanga Six's Morricone brothers), with just the brilliant "Weathergirl" EP and a split 7" single surfacing to tantalise us over the past two years, but now "Fun & Games" finally arrives it's a cogent reminder that genius mustn't be chivvied up just to suit our own impatience.
If you've come across Being 747 previously, you'll realise they have a penchant for tight, concise and gloriously skewhiff guitar pop, with Cooke's deliciously idiosyncratic wordplay and suave vocals cutting a serious dash. And now, stretching over a full-length album, he proves there's plenty more left to mine in the rich pop seam of the singles.
Indeed, "Fun & Games" is one of those rare rekkids which is stuffed with quality from wall to wall and doesn't have you reaching for the skip button at all. "Use Your Friends" makes a re-appearance from the EP and - along with the bitter(sweet) lament "Target Practice" reminds us that Being 747 excel in sophisticated, whirly organ-led jangly pop a la the late, great Benny Profane, but even the most cursory listen demonstrates this is only a fraction of what Cooke and the Morricones can achieve in tandem.
Opener "Swingball," for instance, is brash and brilliant, marrying snappy, Glam-my riffing with growling, JJ Burnel-style bass lunges, while the drum-heavy swagger of "That Look Again" and the wittily sarcastic "Pressure To Perform" (dig those heroic tambourines!) are both cracking examples of oddball, manipulative pop.
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Elsewhere, the band's dealings on the lower rungs of the industry ladder are addressed smartly on both "Make Things Happen" and "The Time Talent Continuum". The former is a particularly sagely observed comment on doing things the indie way (sample lyric: "This is your elbow and that's your arse, only amateurs practice until they pass") with a brilliant chorus, while "..Continuum" is deceptively wry and initially reminded this reviewer of forgotten heroes Microdisney until the surprise guitar solo and crescendo crash in.
There's far more too: not least the faux-rockabilly thunder of "I Move Too Fast" and the weirdo creepathon that is "Advice From The Golden Couple", which is a disturbed swinger's lament and finds Cooke yelping dark thoughts like "And so I get drunk, mess around with my heart and play the field" over a distinctly Eastern motif. Both of these are entirely great, but are battled in the home strait by the kooked-out alt.Country of "Last Monday" (Jew's harp and warped slide guitar anyone?) and the ace "The Girl Who Fell Asleep While Watching Her Life Flash Before Her Eyes", which actually lives up to its' Robyn Hitchcock-style title and is a sublime, pop-punk anthem to cruise into the clouds on.
Being 747, then, have most definitely arrived. They will probably be threatened by the imminent arrival of the equally long-awaited Galitza album, but until then these are quite probably the best "Fun & Games" you can indulge in around the house. Without taking your clothes off, anyway.
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