CURVE, so they say, were designed and built, even contrived, in order that we might love them madly. Everything about them, from their sound to their look to their record sleeves and studio engineers (Toni Halliday's lover, Alan "Valentines" Moulder, mixed this) slots into the section marked "1991 Noisepop Chart Entryists" with so little greasy effort it's frightening. In theory, this is no great sin. The Monkees, even Frankie Goes To Hollywood, were celebrated for much the same in their time, so why not a superb act of contrivance like Curve?

Thing is, while Curve are technically hard to fault, all this does make their "Cherry EP" equally hard to adore. The four tracks, from "Clipped" to "Die Like A Dog" to "Galaxy" and "Cherry", are monuments to efficiency, each one more magnificently constructed than the last, each inviting more gasps of admiration and approval than the one before. At the same time, though, one can't help feeling pushed and cajoled into the "correct" set of responses. It's all just a little too pat, a little too neat and tidy for my liking. You'll love it.

review by Paul Lester
(nicked from 'Melody Maker', dated 26 October 1991)