So, this is it. How does the first professional release by any of the bands involved in the nascent 1-2-3-Go! network stand up? Firstly I have to be honest here and say there's no way in a million years that I'm giving this a bad review; I'll just assume my readers have the mental capacity to make up their own minds about whether or not they think they'll like it, and the rest of you can just accept that it's totally brilliant and get on with the rest of the review, okay? Thank you.

Both tracks from The Glam's recently reviewed (and fabulous)"U'r My Friend" demo single are present here, but fans driven into a frenzy by the tantalizingly incomplete picture they gave of the band's sound will be happy to learn that the array of tracks on offer over this five track EP/mini-album make this release far more representative. However that's not to say that anyone's leaving this CD any the wiser about what makes these handsome young starlets tick. From the title "Hello Anti-Love", to the opening line of "Thank you, you make me cry" to the later assertion "I'm strong because I know I'm weak" and beyond, we are bombarded with paradox, ambivalence and doublethink.

"DOLL" is the closest we get to a straightforward punker here; however, for all its glorious thrashiness, there is a near mathematical precision in the way it dribbles to a deliberately anti-climactic close at precisely the most effective moment. This is not a simple matter of Hives-style rock and roll shape-throwing parody though. This is the kind of calculation with which a jilted lover delivers that cool yet hate-filled put-down just at the instant that makes you look the biggest jerk possible.

"they" is the best track, combining impressive melodic hooks with a powerful emotional punch. The guitar metronomically stabs out a sinister riff, while the bass and drums writhe around beneath the surface like some malevolent living thing thrashing around in your stomach. You cling to the guitar and melody for security as the panic rises beneath the surface, and only then do the words hit you. Necessarily sung entirely in English, there are few more enticing invitations to join a suicide pact, and few more brutally direct. You're already checking the Chuo Line's express train timetables by the time the dissonant parts all fall together and vocalist Misaki C slaps you with the kiss off "Your lips, give me a taste of heaven/ Your lips, give me a taste of hawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawawa!"

Closing track "sin" starts out again in guilt-wracked English, but it's noticeable for the way Ms. C's fragile, androgynous voice seems to gain in confidence as she drifts into her native Japanese. The song steps naked from the protective fuzz of feedback and unconventional song-arrangements, revealing both a band not afraid to display their emotions in a more vulnerable context, but also a band casually flaunting their knack for writing no-frills pop melodies.

The Glam, then, are a band blessed with many contradictions. They bear the darkest secrets of their hearts in a language that is foreign to both themselves and their fans; they rip their instruments apart with both passion and calculation; they deliver tales of soul-consuming guilt with the confidence of natural stars, born into the limelight. The more they show us, the more complex the enigma becomes, the more tantalizingly out of reach they draw. In fact, you'll drive yourself crazy thinking about this stuff, so if I were you, I'd just kick back and enjoy it for the great, viciously mangled pop that it is. -Ian Martin, Jul.27.04.

Hello Anti-Love