Little Man Tate - About What You Know

  by Denzil Watson

published: 8 / 2 / 2007

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Latest in a long line of Sheffield bands to get LPs out over the last year, Little Man Tate steam up the rear (oooer!) with an intoxicating slice of the good times via their catchy indie guitar pop debut 'About What You Know'. No pretensions about saving the world here, just vignettes about cross-dressing footy hooligans, teenage house parties and saucy threesomes. It's hard to believe that Jon Windle (vocals/guitar), Maz (guitar), Dan Fields (drums) and Ben Surtees (bass) only started gigging less than 18 months ago. A few well crafted demos courtesy of Alan Smyth at 2Fly studios slung on the internet and,hey presto, we have another nationally known band from Sheffield. Predictably this plus their Sheffield vernacular has thrown up the obligatory Arctic Monkeys' comparisons. One senses, however, that you're more likely to catch Little Man Tate huddled round their tour-bus DVD player watching 'Carry on Camping' rather than 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'. Included on the album are Top 40 grazers 'Man I Hate Your Band' and 'House Party at Boothy's'. And, of course, their infectious Top 20 hit 'Sexy in Latin'. But it's not all wham-bam-thank-you-mam. There are softer moments too in the shape of the sentimental and lilting 'This Must Be Love' and the breezy 'European Lover'. Personal fave is the full-on break-neck rock'n'roll of 'Who Invented These Lists' and its dig at celebrity culture....surely a future single. Plus the slightly more spiky and caustic 'Little Big Man'. And don't miss the hidden track, 'What? What You Got?' lurking at the end of the album. Critics may well argue the toss as whether they've broken the mould with their Yellow Van debut. Quite frankly who cares? If good pop's about infectious tunes and witty lyrics with a twist, 'About What You Know' scores eight on the Richter scale. And I don't recall many people giving the Undertones, an undoubted inspiration here, stick for writing too many songs about chocolate and girls. Aside from the obvious influences that people will throw at them (the aforementioned Arctic Monkeys and the Libertines) there are other less obvious forces at work here too: think Hull's The Housemartins and Half Man Half Biscuit, topped off with a bit of extra sauciness. They may not have re-inventedindie rock as we know it, but they've sure put the fun back into it. That'll be more Sheffield band Top Thirty Album chart action then.

Track Listing:-

1 Man I Hate Your Band
2 European Lover
3 Sexy In Latin
4 This Must Be Love
5 House Party At Boothy's
6 Who Invented These Lists?
7 Court Report
8 3 Day Rule
9 This Girl Isn't My Girlfriend
10 Down On Marie

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/littlemantateofficial/
https://twitter.com/littlemantateo1

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