from
Best Kept Secret - Demos & Rarities 2001-2004,
released December 13, 2004
Review of Tourist Information EP, which featured Success Is Never Enough, Let Us Have It and Make It
"Stealing is a crime. Murder is a crime. Sting is a crime. luxembourg languishing in the Land of the Unsigned is a crime. They hail from London, they've never been to Luxembourg, and they serve up utterly gorgeous British pop with a soupcon of Suede, a portion of Pulp and a nuance of New Romanticism, shot through with dark humour, and capped off by the velvety Morrissey-ish tones of houmous-obsessive David Shah.
This, their third EP, kicks off with 'Let Us Have It', motoring guitars and busy keyboards (including a break that sounds like an ice cream van jingle gone mad) in a wry look at the asylum issue; "here we come like we've always done, but in droves, if you believe all you read", ending with the refrain of the month "we've taken your cities and we've got designs on your countryside". Wordy, but with such eloquent delivery Shah carries it off with aplomb.
Closing song 'Success Is Never Enough' is a dazzling disco-flavoured rocker with cutting guitar, squelchy synths and soaring octave-jumping vocals. Sandwiched in between the two is the jangly bittersweet balladry of 'Make It', a tale of the mismatched: "You were schooled in a monastery", "But I went to a bog standard comp, While you studied Socrates, Shakespeare and Chaucer, my mind was on woodwork and physics." Priceless.
If gifted, intelligent, melodic popsters grew on trees luxembourg would be in the uppermost branches, reaching skywards in a luxuriance of blossoming foliage. Record labels, stop the crime; sign this band.
luxembourg will take over our cities. If you relax it will be painless."
Graham Slee, Soundsxp