Kate Nash

Kate Nash has achieved an awful lot in her relatively short career thus far. Her début album ‘Made of Bricks’ has gone Platinum, and I just feel that at only 20 years old she has already accomplished more than most will achieve in a lifetime. Despite this, I have absolutely no appreciation for her music whatsoever and I do in fact find that she has one of the most annoying voices in the world. ‘Merry Happy’ does nothing to change my mind about the young artist and is in fact one of the tracks I hated the most from her album. Containing lyrics such as ‘Dancing at discos, eating cheese on toast’, this is hardly the signs of a genius lyricist at work. Kate Nash takes mundane topics and sings about them in a mundane way, she’s dull and offers nothing of worth as a singer-songwriter I feel. All I can say is that it’s lucky that this one won’t be as prolific a performer as her previous releases. Only 1000 copies of each format are being released; two x 7” and one CD. Hopefully ‘Merry Happy’ wont be getting much radio airplay and we’ll soon be able to say goodbye to Kate Nash once and for all. She surely wont be releasing a second studio album and my opinion on the matter is that the sooner she’s gone the better.

Label: Fiction Records
Release Date: 24th March

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With an image printed on to the CD of a birds eye view of a cup of tea and saucer, it took me a while to understand why this was so. Of course, the chorus contains the throwaway line of ‘I’ve got a family, and I drink cups of tea’, so that’s where they got this ingenious idea from. Lousy CD picture aside, the single itself is entirely detestable. The lyrics are laughable, the vocals thoroughly irritating, and the tune not remotely likeable. A cringe worthy continuation of last single ‘Foundations’ ridiculous rhyming of ‘Bitter’ and ‘Fitter’, the couplet of ‘Family’ and ‘Tea’ has to be heard to be believed. Her immaculate use of rhyme and strong grasp of the English language is perhaps on a par with that of William Blake in his ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience’, Or maybe her writings more akin to the meaningless ramblings of Mr Blobby in his 1993 Christmas Number One?

It is not often that an artist will irritate me to such a massive extent, however Kate Nash is without a doubt the most irritating singer songwriter this country has ever produced, and lets face it; there’s a hell of a lot of competition for this accolade.

Label: Fiction Records
Release Date: 1st October 2007

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Kate Nash is a 20 year old singer songwriter from Harrow, London. Making her début through record label Moshi Moshi in February 2007 with double-A side ‘Caroline’s a Victim/Birds’, she was soon snapped up by Fiction Records the following month. How Kate Nash made the transition from an independent to a major label in one month is beyond me as in my opinion Kate Nash music has to be the most irritating to have graced the UK charts since Crazy Frog hit the number one spot in 2005 with ‘Axel F’.

‘Made Of Bricks’ starts promisingly with the short musical opening of ‘Play’, however things quickly turn sour as ‘Foundations’ kicks in, quickly followed by the soon to be released ‘Mouthwash’. ‘Foundations’ is a catchy track, however it has to be said that its catchy for all the wrong reasons. I think that with ‘Foundations’, Kate Nash was on a mission to write and release the most irritating track she possibly could. With lyrics such as ‘You said I must eat so many lemons, cause I am so bitter/I said I’d rather be with your friends mate cause they are much fitter’, it is clear that lyrical intelligence here is at a minimum. It’s not just the lyrics to tell you the truth; it’s also the way in which they are sung. The voice of Kate Nash grates on me no end, and the fact that this track is played so extensively depresses me somewhat. Every time I hear the opening note of ‘Foundations’ I voice my frustration, and swiftly change stations. ‘Mouthwash’ is equally irritating a track, and clocking in at just over five minutes it makes the listening experience feel like an eternity. The lyrical content here is so mundane that it puzzles me how anyone could possibly give the go ahead for this track to be included on a major label album, let alone to be released as a single.

As the album progresses it is clear that the quality of the tracks is not going to improve at all, and the lyrics continue to disappoint. From third track ‘Dickhead’ with its copious amounts of swear words right through to irritating closer ‘Merry Happy’, Kate Nash never once portrays herself to be a talented singer songwriter, and in my opinion never justifies the hype that surrounds her. Sure her music is often catchy, but there is no sense whatsoever of any intelligent thought process having gone into any of the twelve songs here and to me ‘Made Of Bricks’ is a complete disappointment. I see no real musical talent here, and it certainly doesn’t take much vocal talent in order to talk your way through an album.

So many of the tracks on display here never seem to get going, and the album proves to be packed mainly full of fillers. Tracks such as ‘Shit Song’, ‘We Get On’ and ‘Nicest Thing’ have no lasting impact on me whatsoever and are soon forgotten as the album comes to a close. It is not often that I listen to an album and fail to recall more than a couple of the tracks that I have just listened to; however this was most definitely the case with ‘Made Of Bricks’. As background music the album works quite well as for the most part what is playing here fails to register as the music is just so disposable. If you’re looking for music to play at a party, then Kate Nash is a definite no-no. If you’re tired and looking for an album to make everyone leave your party on the other hand then by all means reach for ‘Made Of Bricks’.

Having hit number one in the album charts, it is clear that a fair amount of people went out and bought this bilge; however for me this does not detract from the fact that this is still an awful album. With the albums début single having been in the charts now for a good three months, it is no surprise then that the album has therefore sold so well, and in my opinion Kate Nash has already more than outstayed her welcome.

For me the enduring of an hour of Kate Nash was a nightmare, and it is not something I will be doing again in a hurry. At no point in ‘Made Of Bricks’ did I ever feel that I was enjoying what I was listening to, and although I can see why Kate Nash is popular as some of the music she is producing is catchy; her music is definitely not for me. There is no doubt in my mind that Kate Nash will be a one album wonder and in fact this time next year Kate Nash will surely be a distant memory for most. Kate Nash is a second rate Lily Allen, and Lily Allen isn’t even very good to begin with.

Label: Fiction Records
Release Date: 6th August 2007

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Before receiving this single I had never heard of Kate Nash, and quite frankly having listened to this single I wish that this would have remained to be the case. ‘Foundations’ sounds like Kate Nash listened to Lily Allen’s cover of The Kooks ‘Naïve’ and forged out her career on the basis of what she heard here, as lyrically she sounds like a poor Lily Allen and is often reminiscent of her, however there is also a definite Kooks approach about her vocals that comes through at times, particularly during the chorus. At close to 4 minutes in length, I would consider this track to have been a severe waste of my life – 4 minutes of which I’ll regrettably not be getting back. A few months down the line and I guarantee that Kate Nash will be a distant memory for most, a young talentless woman destined to be a one album wonder.

Label: Polydor
Release Date: 18th June 2007

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