Darkstar
John Merricks Remains - Digging up the Remains
Post punk cheap trash electro with the lyrical inspiration from god knows where,but count your lucky stars that DMP have seen fit to release this on an unsuspecting public. It features the single" Blood on the Rocks" a truly demented cover of the Neil Diamond classic. Digging up the Remains is deleriously original and John Merrick's Remains are essential idiots in a world dragged down by dreary normal folk. (see http://www.darkstarorg.demon.co.uk/ for full review)

N.M.E.
BEACH NOVELTIES OF THE WEEK!
(I Had Sex With) John Merricks Remains - Blood On The Rocks
Something nasty lurks inside the deserted waxworks. Have you ever felt the urge to sing 'Love On The Rocks' by Neil Diamond backwards over a soundtrack of Tangerine Dream burping? The Merricks have. It's not easy to tell exactly what's going on here, but at least you can be sure it's genuinely unpleasant. This is a record worthy of Family Fodder! It's heart-warming that anyone can still be bothered. "Just for a joke we'll nail each other to the wall and the survivor can have it all." If Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark had lost their jobs, became alcoholic and sold their own children to pay for a can of Special Brew they might have sounded like this, but not otherwise. Burbling, shouting, backwards, a classic.

Melody Maker
(I Had Sex With) John Merricks Remains - Blood On The Rocks
ROY Orbison, dead? Strike a light! "Strike a light!" I said to Jonh Wilde in the street, as he tossed his favourite pebble from hand to hand, when I enquired about Orbison's age. "Prehistoric," he mused, mishearing. "Good to kick up and down the street". That's no way to treat a legend, I fumed. John Merrick deserves similar consideration, but the record is so good (all 25 copies that they sent), we shall ignore the lack of discipline. Dedicated to Neil Diamond, the plunging neckline of a synthy outburst, couple to a bizarre double-take and epic vocal rapidly turns gormless into cut throat gurglers. Literally vast in scope and pressure.

Manilla
John Merricks Remains - Blood On The Rocks
Who the hell calls themselves John Merricks Remains? A band who might have just come up with the most sensationally fucked up and unique singles of 2004 that's who. I hope The Elephant Man isn't a Neil Diamond fan... any band who can sample a line from Love On The Rocks and turn it into murderous intent laden lyrics deserve special mention. ('Blood on the rocks, ain't no surprise, you told me some lies, so I gouged out your eyes'). The gravel vocals are backed by pure electro 80's melodies. I can already see the video... Keith Allen playing the Elephant Man while singing this tune. It's mad. It's sing-along, it's electro meet psycho, it's fantastic. Go visit the strange world of www.dmprecords.co.uk.
Review : Tony McDonagh

Manilla
Mindgames - Abnormal
A skewed and confused pounding dance track with bizarre multi-track vocals. If this song fails to move you go downstairs, pour yourself a cup of tea and watch Songs of Praise.

Sandman
Mindgames - Abnormal
Weird fairground style vocals over a skewed 90's crossover beat - check it out if you're into nosebleed nights out.

Manilla
Ultraviolet - Bleed For Me
Another DMP offering but totally different from Mind Games. This is more of a chill-out track, with electronic samples, beats and 80's sounding (yes 80's again) vocal. Bleed For Me mixes an echoing vocal with an electronic beat and it works beautifully... long live synthesizers! Some of the chill-out sounding music received at Manilla has been fantastic... Ultraviolet have just raised that level a little further.
Review : Tony McDonagh

LS2b
John Merricks Remains - Slapper
This band once traded under the lovely name of I Had Sex With Jon Merricks Remains, and are signed to new Donny electro label DMP. The a-side is a demented slice of dark avant garde electropop, with a catchy shouty chorus ("SLAPPER! SLAPPER!"). The b-side is more of the same, continuing the bonkers lyrics and Whigfield-gone-goth backing. Imagine a less credible Prodigy, with a sense of humour, fronted by Phil Oakey's brother, and with an unhealthy Elephant Man obsession. And you're still not quite there. Debut album 'Digging Up The Remains' is out soon, and should be very interesting indeed.

Sandman
John Merricks Remains - Slapper
Not entirely convincing slab of gothy, electropop which fails to bridge the gap between a couple of stools and falls into a vat of rather silly poppiness and lyrics which give ample singalong fun. All of which will inevitably mean it will be an enormous global hit amongst those who drink fizzy blue booze and good luck to them. Let's all hear it for SLAPPER!