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Currently an internet only release, '2-cute' sees thirty-something SF pop-wiz CvS setting his own slick brand of pop music to the lyrical musings of teenage girl poetry (the 13-17 age bracket to be specific), sparked by some youthful fan-mail. A more earnest homage than, say, Sloan's Pen Pals which took its inspiration from the overseas contibutors to its mail-bag, CvS's route is an affectionate one, giving a Beatlesque sheen to these tales of heartbreak and teen-angst (sample lyrics - 'Like a balloon poked with a pen / I feel deflated, my self-confidence thin' or 'I sit all day eating triscuits, salsa / Listening to Sheryl...Alanis...Elliott' or the somewhat more passionate 'Love turns into lust, pain's turned into pleasure'). The brevity of some tracks (particularly the upbeat Annoyed, at 56 secs in need of an extended mix...Chris?) and a running time of under 35 mins - probably matching the length of some of these infatuations - suggest that the raw material was a little thin (nine 'poets' are credited - among them Sailingsky, Rosepetals and Girlnthewaves) but then the inane ramblings of a bunch of record-collecting anoraks doubtless left CvS less-than-inspired to make the remainder of his fan-mail public. As with the Sportsmen project and the recent London Payne mini-concept album (this time inspired by a found book of poetry and drawings), 2-cute 2-be 4-gotten is a welcome diversion between 'proper' albums and a reminder, if required, that a little light-heartedness and humour go a long way in this world.

Matt Dornan
CWAS #6 - Autumn 2000

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