The Menace

It's been five whole years to the month since Elastica released their eponymous, million-selling debut so I guess you could say they've been away for a long stretch (sorry, couldn't resist!). Not a whole lot has changed in the world of British music since then, so it's almost like they never really left us. Acts like Primal Scream, Oasis and, of course, Blur still rule the musical roost, and the disintegration of Justine Frischmann's relationship with Damon Albarn has kept her very much in the public eye throughout, despite the absence of a follow-up.

For a while it looked as though there wouldn't actually be one. The reasons were myriad - the band were too busy touring, Annie Holland had left, Justine and Damon were fighting (in the press, as well as at home), Justine and Donna Matthews were fighting (Donna actually left the band last year but rejoined to record this album) and so on. Rumours of Elastica's imminent demise were as rife as rumours of Shane MacGowan's imminent death have been over the years. Thankfully, however, hatchets seems to have been buried, new members have joined and Elastica are now finally back as a six-piece.

Recorded over six intense weeks, the 13 (a clue, perhaps?) tracks featured don't showcase any particular rethinking of the Elastica strategy - they're still a fuck-off indie guitar band at heart. There is a new maturity at work, however, an older kind of angst. A lot of water has passed under the band's bridge since they first emerged and some of the new songs are more dark and moody, rather than just plain angry and frustrated. Both lyrically and vocally, Justine scores a 9 on the P.J. Harvey soundalike scale (which is a good thing, not a jibe). The Menace is aptly titled.

But then, maybe this is the sound of revenge being served cold. Numerous tracks could conceivably be about Damon - 'Image Change' and 'My Sex' in particular - but Frischmann has always written about sex and relationships anyway, (one track here is called 'Your Arse, My Place') and I suspect she's put in just enough to frustrate his vanity, rather than flatter it.

The real revenge is in the music, though. This is a spiky, punky, bittersweet, moody and catchy collection of great guitar songs, with a couple of well chosen collaborations and covers thrown in (The Fall's Mark E. Smith sings on 'How He Wrote Elastica Man' and Trio's 1982 hit 'Da Da Da' closes the record) to add variety and spice to the mix. Despite the speed of the recording, there are no real weak moments. If you like one track, chances are you'll like them all.

A fine return to fuck-off form then. This could well be the sound of the summer of 2000.