| Mint Royale (featuring
Pos) - Show Me A joyous summer jaunt of a song, featuring Pos from
hip hop heroes De La Soul, and, what sounds like a Cantonese ABBA tribute band
in the chorus. Pos' rap recalls his own bands tune, the classic Prince spelt "Eye
Know". However, the abundance of easy listening sunny types vibes worryingly reminds
this reviewer of "Summertime" by those doyens of the hard core rap scene, DJ Jazzy
Jeff and The Fresh Prince. That particular association is culled slightly, by
the classy ambient break in the middle of the track, which is the sound of a sky
full of birds flying south for that much needed mid year wing break.
Biog : Until 1997 both men had been pursuing
their own musical paths, growing up as they did in the middle of the U.K.'s indie
rock and acid house explosions of the late '80s. Already familiar faces
on the U.K. dance scene, the boys hooked up at the Christmas party thrown by U.K.
dance mag Jockey Slut in 1997, and christened themselves The Mint Gun
Club, named after one of the haunts frequented by Hunter S. Thompson in Fear
and Loathing in Las Vegas. Critically accalimed reworkings of Kenickie's
“I Would Fix You” in 1998 ensured their success in the UK. “We were actually
meant to do a drum n’ bass remix,” Chris explains, "but the original was just
the wrong speed, so we ended up doing it our own way. That was really the birth
of the Mint Royale sound proper," he says. "Because that was when we started doing
stuff we liked and stopped thinking about who'd play it." After playing
the 2000 CMJ closing party, the Mints are setting their sights on the U.S.
to support On The Ropes, both as a live act and as DJs. “Dee-jaying's
something we stopped when we started living in the studio,” Neil says. “Now we
take out a box of tricks when we DJ.” “It's nice to DJ again,” Chris adds. “But
with our new box of tricks it's like revisiting an old friend -- who's got a new
girlfriend to look at.”
Review by Priya Elangasinghe 
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