THE EYE ON: POP& JAZZ

Korn play Manchester Academy 25 Jan, Wolverhampton Civic Hall 26 Jan, Nottingham Rock City 27 Jan, Leeds Town & Country Club 29 Jan, Newcastle University 30 Jan

When you think about it, Beavis and Butt-head are very conservative. The videos they trash are invariably English, from the 1980s, and pop. But if they call one "Cool!" and headbang frenziedly, the band will invariably be exactly like California's Korn, who are the latest, heavy-duty, heavily pierced psychos on the block. Korn, top 30 stars in Britain already, are metal, would- be millionaire degenerates who your rock-obsessed 14-year-old brother will soon worship.

It is a shame, then, that the "hate thyself" mentality on Korn's two albums is so familiar and predictable. Last year Machine Head howled the same theme, three years ago a similar nightmare metal noise was brought forth by Nine Inch Nails. Korn's recent album Life Is Peachy is brimming with crude hostility ("Kill You", "Porno Creep", etc), but unlike the band's US West Coast rap bretheren, the qualities of malevolence and eloquence in the lyrics are sorely lacking. In fact, Korn are pretty comical. At best, they are a bludgeoningly powerful live experience, with basslines that biff you senseless. Beautiful. At worst, their songs are nothing more than a conveyor belt of silly, stompy tantrums. But "ADIDAS" ("All Day I Dream About Sex") and the hit single "No Place To Hide" have secured Korn's corner in the adolescent territory of Beavis and Butthead and MTV, a place that generates controversy as a cheap commodity, shamelessly peddling "buy the T-shirt" rebellion. Korn fit in so well...

Korn claim to think about sex all day. Of course, rock 'n' roll dysfunction is about the nearest thing to sex a 14-year-old boy usually gets. To them Korn are the ultimate top-shelf material. Consequently, the cash registers are, therefore, ringing long and hard for the Californians right now. Now, that is something to make them feel horny.

EYE ON THE NEW

Liverpool's Boo Radleys have released the third single off their C'mon Kids album, entitled "Ride The Tiger". Now they're going on the road to give the song a few good live blasts in order to secure a healthy chart placing.

Ipswich Corn Exchange 27 Jan, Portsmouth Pyramids Centre 29 Jan, Bristol

University 30 Jan