What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a case of musical Attention Deficit Disorder. Little Match Girl, who are from Leeds, UK, and signed to Planet Ghost Records, have released a debut album that reminds us that you can’t please all the people all the time, and if you try, you end up pleasing no one.

Little Match Girl can’t seem to decide if they want to be old-school industrial or heavy metal. They try to do both, and succeed only in aping both genres badly. The album opens with the “computerized voice” that’s been used countless times and I can only assume it’s supposed to sound menacing. Sadly, my first thought was “Wow, this sounds so 80’s, and not in a good way.”

The first couple of tracks have a passable industrial feel to them, but after that, the album degenerates into badly executed heavy metal that bears more than a passing resemblance to Marilyn Manson.

Bad 80’s metal seems to all the rage these days, with hordes of people wetting themselves with insipid glee over The Darkness and their ilk, and I have no doubt that this album will find a comfortable home with that audience.

Towards the end of the album, Little Match Girl trys to swing back towards that good old industrial sound, but as before, they borrow heavily from already-overused sounds and effects without adding anything new.

I have nothing against borrowing sounds and styles from other genres and artists, but I do expect a bit of originality in the mix. That’s not too much to ask for is it?
 

Track Listing
1. The North/Crash Intro
2. Victim
3. A&R
4. Bullet
5. My Queen
6. Space Witch
7. Satisfaction
8. Black Days
9. Burn Me Up
10. On That Road/Some Noise
11. Version X
12. Galaxy Nation
13. Endless Madness
14. DCO

www.littlematchgirl.co.uk
www.planetghost.co.uk
 

04/15/04