THE MALKIN JEWEL

On the evidence of this single somebody's been listening to their 70s collection. 'The Malkin Jewel' is another dramatic, memorable and incomprehensible song from THE MARS VOLTA, and it leaps fully-formed out of the retro-70s bin (with the inimitable MARS VOLTA touch, of course).

From its stuttering start through to the glam-rock choruses, the song seems destined to be great. It loses its way a little, but is still a worthy effort. And, unlike 'Cotopaxi' from their previous album, it's no 'Wax Simulacra' clone. If this is a pointer to the content of the new album, I'm a happy lad.

Something about the chorus nagged me for days, until I listened to 'The Writ' by BLACK SABBATH. Play them both, you'll see what I mean.