Tingle In The Netherlands - Why Can't You Write Something Nice for a Change?

I'm assuming the title of this album was inspired by a question Tingle In The Netherlands get asked a lot.  Thankfully, for the rest of us, their debut album provides not only evidence that they plan to ignore it but also that they're defying it to propel their lyrical content into, if anything, still greater heights of naughtiness.  They're already responsible for the greatest rhyming couplet this century (the incomparable 'Made in China/Bought with vagina' from 'Prostitute's Handbag') and thankfully, while there's plentiful evidence of a broadening artistic palette here, they've not sacrificed the penchant for utter filth that remains at the core of their considerable appeal.

Satisfyingly, that single makes a welcome reappearance here, along with the ode to the pursuit of milkmen-shagging that is 'The Housewife's Lament' and the self-explanatory 'Forest of Cocks'.  Meanwhile, 'I Lost My Heart To A Starship Cleaner' goes into places that neither Sarah Brightman, nor the supposed purveyors of 'naughty bits' Hot Gossip, would have dared to venture.

I'm playing 'Mammals' in my March show on Dandelion Radio, a brilliantly irreverent trawl through facts and non-facts that includes such assertions as 'The prime minister produces one pint of saliva a day', 'the aristocrat wil frequently eat its own young' and my personal favourite 'The pilot produces the largest volume of ejaculate among primates'.

The album's a joy from start to finish, all delivered via Owen's brilliantly understated and yet somehow subversive synthesiser parts and overlaid with Helen's enticing enunciation of subject matter that moves from the provocative to the beautifully disgusting with appealing ease.

Available as usual from their own Nerve Echo label, you can also grab a copy at the duo's bandcamp site.   It's an early contender for one of the releases of the year - don't miss it.