Matinee have yet to be reviewed by any of the organs of the music press but in order to engender a 'them and us' vibe among our fans, we will endeavour to post any scrap of critical comment.

So far, there's not been much to go on. The Guardian Guide compared the band to Hefner last time around and frequently describes us as 'articulate English pop'. Meanwhile, people spotted within 50 yards of our gigs have included Jake Shillingford of My Life Story, Sara from Girlfrendo, Johnny from Dweeb, James and Kevin from Baby Birkin and Chris Gentry of Menswear. Steve Mason from Gene has a tape, as does Simon Williams of Fierce Panda records (perhaps the contract's in the post).

Meanwhile, here's how the industry has reacted to our latest demo tape, recorded back at Pathway in July.

First to get back was, Guy of Dishy records who said we 'reminded him of St Christopher' but apologised that he had no money to release anything. Say hello also, Will Klinsman of Echo records who sent us an 'amusing' standard letter with 'OK but not right for the Echo label' ticked. It could have been 'Don't give up your day job' (the box below) but we bet he never ticks that one. Cherry Red records said that they are currently concentrating on releasing back catalogue material, while Ian Mclaren of Beggars Banquet assured us that it (our tape) had been 'carefully listened to' in his standard letter. An email was also received from Katrina Hause of Jeepster records requesting that we refrain from sending our music to her as .WAV files. Apparently attempting to download 'Scene Stealer' held up her computer for half of the afternoon, so we popped one in the post for her instead.

There was much excitement when Adie from Lithium Records of Aberdeen emailed to say that we'd been reviewed in Holly's Demo Hell in the Melody Maker, though he warned us it was a pasting. Luckily the critical mauling was for another band called Matinee. Let's hope that they split up in tears upon reading it so we don't have to go to the bother of breaking their legs for using our name.

Meanwhile, the London Matinee's postings to the alt.music.alternative newsgroup have amused the likes of Jyoti Mishra (White Town) and Ant Chapman (Collapsed Lung) with their many references to C-86 jangle-pop bands and their 'hardness' or otherwise.

We will of course keep you updated on any further flirtations with the evil industry.