Constellation Prize – Cursor Major (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It’s probably a phrase that has followed them around since it was levelled at their first release but “kookiness is next to godliness” might be the most succinct summation of Cursor Major ever penned. Capturing the feel of those underground pop bands who came through on the post-punk ticket but who traded in melody and accessibility rather than wilder experimentation, they never the less sound bang up to date. Clever tweaking of a classic sound? The cyclical nature of music putting them at the forefront of the current fashion curve? Great songs that defy generic pigeonholing? All of that and more I guess.

Musically it pulses with jerky new wave rhythms and songs such as Two-Timing Tom Jones seem to be the grandson of The Kinks and the nephew of Blur with XTC the “uncle” that the family doesn’t talk about but who bears more than a passing resemblance.

But if Constellation is bookended with such angularity, the also alliterative Tongue Tied and Twisted sails smoother waters before the staccato blast of Mojito returns us to the more robotic vibe that eased us in to the record.

Their name may sit somewhere between a West Country village and a distant star cluster (as referenced by the malapropism in the title of the E.P) but this is neither parochial paean nor otherworldly daydreaming and whilst it might contain an element of both, file under perfect pop for the modern age.