Category: Preview

For all the elitist shits who view the latter day musical direction of these Toronto natives as pretty Fucked Up in itself, this monster 25 track double CD (also available on vinyl) compilation should give you a jolt and sharp reminder of the killer potential this band has when it hits its stride.

Disc One opens with the raging “No Pasarán” their debut single (on Deranged Records) from way back in 2002 and forges ahead to include numerous A and B sides culled from their numerous (limited run) seven inches. There’s some real treats, including “Neat Parts”, “Dangerous Fumes”, “Triumph Of Life”, “Fixed Race” and the pièce de résistance of their early material for me; the 7” version of “Generation” here in all its glory with the smoking spoken word intro care of an Hamas recruitment recording… awesome. Winding down Disc One are a couple of outtakes of songs that featured on their last album “Chemistry of Common Life”, which I was quite disappointed by, but these two versions are pretty rocking, so I may yet reach back to “Chemistry…” for some revision.

Disc Two starts with a 2008 B-side “I Hate Summer”, decent song, but as a sun worshipper I cannot accept the sentiment. Next, the hoary and damn catchy “Teenage Problems” from 2005, then straight in to a “Hidden World” outtake “Carried Out to Sea” – thumping! For me Fucked Up was on a roll at this point, unbeatable. Disc Two also collates some Fucked Up cover versions, by The Shop Assistants, Dolly Mixture and I’m not familiar with the original of “Anorak City” by Another Sunny Day, but this 2008 reprise is great. “Magic Kingdom” (the B-side of “Generation”) gets a welcome dusting down and blows everything to pieces.

For the most part this is an excellent compilation that sits well along side “Epics in Minutes” – the definitive F.U. collection of early material from 2004 (on Deranged).

Pete Craven

SEGA
PS3/XBOX360
(official site)

Cos-play devotees are gonna have a field day with SEGA’s modern day witchy affair, Bayonetta, a thirdperson action game that has some outstanding visuals and boss fights with a storyline that ultimately becomes a blur of clichés.

With pistols strapped to her stilettos and all manner of other weaponry, Bayonetta is a witch looking to avenge a wronged past. This story of a witch wronged, is a muddled affair not helped by numerous and lengthy cut-scenes that do very little to connect the player with past and current events or the characters. Bayonetta herself is one big, lolly-pop-sucking, skin-flashing, flirtation that will keep young teens and men that should know better, glued to hope that she’ll do some sort of naked dance each time a boss is taken down. Fighting a way through the many angels, that block the linear path to the next boss battle, seemed designed to develop a technique of button-mashing frenzy which feels deliberate at times but mostly heightens a feeling of luck when a combo is achieved – and be warned there are many, many combos in Bayonetta.

There’s very little else to amuse the gamer who loves a deep storyline with fully fleshed-out characters but saying that, if your picking up Bayonetta for some deep ‘n’ meaning videogaming expressionism, then you are doing yourself a disservice. At Bayonetta’s heart is a pumping, ultra-violent shooter cross beat ’em up cross that sometimes feels like it’s playing itself when the action becomes too frantic. At those moments, all thoughts of hand-to-eye co-ordination jump headlong into a dried up swimming pool from 150 feet up. Combat in Bayonetta leaves you brain feeling liquidised and ready for consumption and your nerves aching for a sedative.

Bayonetta is part pleasure and part pain, it is there to simultaneously reminded you how videogame combat can be fun without being ultra-realistic but also how cheesy story-lines and make-shift characterisation can combine to make a total and utter mess of things. So if you can get passed Bayonetta’s cheeky but clichéd pantomime and the overly long cut-scenes then what you’ll be delighted with is a riotous game of frightful fighting mayhem. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you!

7/10

David Osbon