The Lollies "Taste": 2-stars in Q

Kate should sue. Wry is the biggest insult in the English language. Wry means not funny. Wry means Stuart Maconie on I Love Ten Minutes Ago. Just edges out "irreverent" in the eviiity stakes! WE WERE NOT PLACED ON THIS MISBEGOTTEN PLANET TO BE WRY!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't even seen the review in question. I'm still not through crying over the drubbing we got in the Big Issue Wales.

I'm terrified I'm going to have to leave ILM now, because instead of being seen as just another poster who people can talk to/commiserate with, it's going to go back to one of those situations where people think they can kick me over it.

I don't think wry is an insult. I think wry is a compliment. I *like* being called wry. It's better than "sarcastic fucking bitch" idnit? And as for Grease, I knew we shouldn't have included pictures of our John Travolta lookalike drummer and me dressed up as Danny Zuko and Sandy! Curse our backfired plots...

(After years of *hating* Grease, I've grown to actually quite love it, cheesiness and musicals being two of my favourite things. One of the songs (Office Romance) was totally recorded with the Pink Ladies in mind. So this is really a diss that has backfired, isn't it? Or is it just a very clever way of comparing us to a *different* Kenickie...?)

I can't wait to read it. I hope it will be one of those reviews where I go "Yes! Yes! he get is! perfect! He loves it..." until I see the two stars and realise that everything he was saying was intended as an insult, but turned into a backhanded compliment.

But then, I've never been able to decide which is better: a bad review, or no review at all? Better to be blanked or to be kicked?

I guess you have to see the motivations behind it: at least, with bad reviews, you can judge for yourself whether they dislike the record for being what it is, or for being what it's not. With the former, fine, it wasn't their thing. With the latter, it's difficult not to feel extreme frustration, and cry out "why do I bother?". Like someone hating you because they believe a false rumour about you.

Ultimately, it's a waste of energy to get worked up about what critics say. If it's any consolation, remember that most critics are joyless husks of no woman born.

Dickon, that's marvellous. Have you got secret cameras in my house?

Uncut is mad, it has pictures of Kate (presumably), and reviews by Marcello. can we stage a takeover?

yes, i finally got a copy of uncut this morning. it's true, we sent along a full colour glossy picture of ver band dressed up as the buffy gang, and this was good for an extra star. hooray! (I am buffy, jane is willow and matthew is xander, obviously)

i like the uncut review lots. come on, blondie and elastica sharing lippie in the grrrls room? i was born for this... (and wry to boot)

q is good for giving me crazy sex dreams about pillow butt trustafarian boarding school wankers who hang out on the lower east side pretending to be in the velvet underground (hello, pot, my name is kettle, you are looking dark today) so i suppose it still has some use. oh, and cute pictures of thom yorke on tippie-toes to boot.

the obvious complaint about the record continuing to be "it's not bland enough!" this is why we can never be indie-pop. sigh.