Consumer Guide Album

Idlewild: Hope Is Important [Odeon, 1999]
Unaccustomed as I am to quoting NME, I can resist neither "a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs" nor "what Fugazi would sound like if they ate meat." Punk foursome from Glasgow--sometimes lyrical, sometimes heavy, mostly headlong, less confused than the people they write to and about. Almost as catchy as Green Day, who were (are?) cuter. I sincerely suggest they conceive a video for "A Film for the Future" or "You Don't Have the Heart" that makes good-natured fun of 'N Sync--or, failing that, Oasis. There's still time. A-