FREEHEAT RETOX EP OUTAFOCUS RECORDINGS RELEASE: NOVEMBER 5, 2001, FEBRUARY 18, 2002 (UK) REVIEW: NOVEMBER 30, 2001

Oh, I wish I could state "The Jesus and Mary Chain aren’t dead". Well, they are. But Freeheat sure as hell are good substitutes, and more.
"Retox " starts with one of the best pop songs I have heard this year - "The Two of Us". In some ways, it’s a typical JAMC-song, but in some ways it isn't . It is happier than almost anything in the JAMC catalogue. The rest of "Retox" aren’t that happy though. The songs follow in the JAMC shoegazing tradition, with slow noisy guitars and both great rock and pop feeling. Think "Honey’s Dead" and you’re almost there.
This is a remixed and remastered version of the US "Don't Worry Be Happy" EP on Hall of Records. The song "The Long Goodbye" has been added as well.
I could probably go on forever about these five songs, but I won’t. I hope you listen to them yourselves instead. Then we can wait together and wonder about what Jim Reid, Ben Lurie and the other Freeheaters will come up with on the next EP and debut album. I foresee greatness.

KALLE MALMSTEDT