Tortoiseshell

WISHPLANTS: 'Tortoiseshell' (China)

Ouch. The Wishplants' eagerness to get to that massed vocal chorus means that everything between sounds strained, and you just know that there were many in-studio arguments about who should get turned up loudest in the mix. It looks like everybody won. 'Tortoiseshell' is ultimately smothered by its own epic pretensions. The guitarist starts off playing some lovely Cure-like melody and proceeds to wander further and further off the point, until, by the end of the song, he's grown his hair and joined Bon Jovi.