With the spirit of goodwill firmly in mind, we've already started to think about Christmas. It's only six and a half months till the big day, and we have to consider the chore of writing letters to Santa begging for at least one new pair of shoes. Which brings us neatly onto My Red Cell. If their singer ever wrote to Santa to demand that he look like someone, it would be Kevin Rowland 20 years ago. Immediately when My Red Cell take to the stage, Sumo collectively whispers, "he looks like he's auditioning for Dexys Midnight Runners." Despite the uncanny similarity between the two, My Red Cell sound nothing like Dexys. Instead - and you read it here first, kids - they sound exactly how the White Stripes would if they had four members, and not two. And that is pretty splendid. There's not really much to add to the assessment, except Jack and Meg should consider employing reinforcements quick smart to avoid looking, well, two members short of My Red Cell. While Jack White may ask Santa for a pair of pals to join the band, you cannot help but feel Chikinki's letter to the bearded one read, "Santa! I want a Korg!". Having been given a present that would turn many green with envy, all Chikinki proceed to do with it is add some swirly noises when they run out of chords. Garage rock with a token bit of electronica does not work. Now and again, it's possible to discern Chikinki's influences - Primal Scream, Super Furry Animals, the Music, even Daft Punk. But mostly it sounds like they've listened to too much Kraftwerk and tried to replicate it. All we can hope is that next Christmas, they ask Santa for a new direction. | 
