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-ST ETIENNE Smash The System Singles & More (2001 UK 34-track 2-CD album set containing all of their finest moments plus alternate versions & remixes housed in a double album jewel case with picture booklet containing liner notes by Kevin Pearce) Amazon.co.uk Smash the System is a 34-track best-of compilation following the UK trio’s remarkable progression from suave masters of post-rave dub soul into protagonists of ironic pastiches of cheesy 60s pop. Producers Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs even acquired bouffants to match their retro fetish, and their twee-voiced singer Sarah Cracknell dressed as if she’d just stepped out of a mini for a David Bailey photo shoot. For a time they smartly blended guitar pop with the emerging dance scene but like other bands formed by music journalists (Gay Dad take note) they became too clever for their own good. Smash the System kicks off with “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”, ‘s most accomplished piece of work. It was their debut cut, remixed by Andy Weatherall, and was instrumental in pioneering the indie-dance crossover genre that hugely benefited groups such as , the and the in the early 1990s. But St Etienne continued on a different curve, veering into quasi-comedic records such as “He’s on the Phone” which pokes fun at Kylie Minogue’s early career and the Sandie Shaw-like “The Bad Photographer”. They later recaptured their early dancefloor swagger and had a top 10 hit (“Tell Me Why”) in conjunction with Paul Van Dyk. Unfortunately this doesn’t appear on this collection. Going through 10 years of their work you can see the dub and breakbeat influences diminish in direct proportion to the influx of silliness, which is probably why St Etienne are still regarded as one of pops great underachievers. The remix album Casino Classics probably does them better justice. — Jake Barnes