I invited Ant fan Steve Horwood (Steve Ant to his online friends) to contribute to the review,  He's been sent to the blue corner, while I sit it out in the red.  I will add that both of these reviews were written without knowledge of the other's comments.

01 - Go Go Go:
Not Gonna Stand, Not Gonna Treat
[03:02]

Carty - One of many tracks on this album where ex-Ant Kevin Mooney and ex-Renegade Soundwave Gary Asquith share vocal duties. This guitar-lead slab of punk is a powerful opener, with Gary's vocals sounding almost Stranglers-like. I imagine this would sound the same when performed live. I'm sure I hear a moog in there too.

Steve - A rocky guitar led starter, this starts the CD off to a great start. It's quite sing-along and gets you in a good mood.

02 - Black Pirates:
Love to Marco, Adam, Terry, Chris + all the Crew of the Stellamaris. ♥
[03:07]

Carty - Mooney once said in a 3am interview that Adam sings this version of "Chicken Outlaw" better than he did when Wide Boy Awake performed it back in the 80's. He must have been taking the piss. This was recorded in 2003 and has to be Adam's worst vocal performance ever released ("Wannabe" and "Save The Gorilla" remain unreleased). It's ironic that Mooney wrote this about Adam, and it does question what state of mind he was in when this was (poorly) recorded. The hardest part for me is after Adam sings "clever, clever, clever, fucker". The "oh" that follows is, to put it bluntly, sad.

Steve - Oh dear. It features Adam Ant on vocals. I want to be nice because overall I like this album. But this song really does not fit. The album has some odd moments, but this is more than odd, it sounds like a mess about in the studio one day. It is of course a re-recording of a Wide Boy Awake song, "Chicken Outlaw",  re-named "Black Pirates". But it's not even a re-recording, it sounds like Kev said to Adam one day "'Ere I wrote this song about you ages ago when I left the Ants", played it to him and Adam said "hehehe that's great, pass me another beer, 'ere, 'ere, let's have a mess about, let's tape it!" The results really ought to have been left off as a curio, something they did one day for a laugh. because apart from the fact that with Adam on it it becomes an ADAM song (and it is way below what Adam can do - even the covers on the "Gorillas" single were better than this, even "Gorillas" itself was better), it doesn't sound complete. It's too messy, it's all over the place and sounds unfinished. In a word it's awful and really should have been left off the otherwise fantastic album. When I first heard it I thought well ok
if the rest of the CD is like this then at least it fits and it will take some getting used to, but as my review shows, the rest of the album ISN'T like this. So it's just a shame that this is in there. And being an Ant fan I tried hard there to be kind, but really it ruins the CD, and is skipped, sorry.

03 - It Dosn't Matter:
Harmonic Interface, (Mikes Mode of Transport)
[04:13]

Carty - This the best track on the album. A superb keyboard hook, great vocals from Kevin and a potential single. In fact I'd love to remix this and bring up the drums a bit more to give it more of a kick. All in all, it's a bloody fantastic track. And just put your mind at ease, it's not a cover version of the Ants' track of the same name.

Steve - A quieter track, more keyboard led, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose it doesn't matter which one you choose It doesn't matter cos I'm not impressed", it's back on track with Kev's very good vocals for this track. This reminds me of Max.

04 - K. Blues:
Imma Going Up Yonder to the Valley
[03:04]

Carty - I love the timpani drum roll intro. As the title suggests, it Kevin singing the blues. The guitar certainly is bluesy, as are the lyrics. But the drum loop seems slightly upbeat to me. Happy blues? Well not quite that happy.

Steve - A drum machine shuffle throughout this, a nice little bluesy song.  More great lyrics, "One part of heaven one part of hell".

05 - Put Up Your Hands:
If You Wanna Rule Your Destiny. (Live at Club Eden)???
[04:54]

Carty - I love this one. Alternate verses from Gary and Kevin. I can see this being a real crowd mover when performed live. Probably the more dancier track on the CD, and has an anthemic feel to it, especially during Kevin's vocals. The plenty going in the backing track, but it sounds as though it's all squeezed in a bit too tightly. I'd like to pan a few things out in the mix. Best line, "the girl in the Chevy's got a tattoo on her belly".

Steve - Another guitar led track, a bit dancey, another sing-along track.  This will sound great live!

06 - 1625:
I Am Parking My Car Outside They Say I'm Dangerous
[04:10]

Carty - I call this "Gary Chant", as that's exactly what Kevin does. Gary main vocals stay in the Stranglers vein, and with the Pistols style guitar it's a powerful number. Gary's line "I'm dangerous" is excellent. Don't ask me why!

Steve - Harder to hear the words on this but it's still a great tune, who needs to hear the words all the time anyway? By now I've turned the volume right up! "I hope the Sex Pistols are fighting in the trenches"!

07 - It's A Sure Thing:
"You Know Who I am"  "No - Who Are You"
[03:22]

Carty - This is the most humourous track on the disc. In my opinion anyway. To me it sounds as though Gary's taking the piss out of the American phrase, "it's a sure thing". Kevin's backing vocals are just that...how far is he standing from the mic? In contrast, Gary sounds too close...a little distortion is heard. But a few tracks suffer from that. It's a sure thing!

Steve - "It's a sure thing, you know who I am". Less memorable overall, but with the rest of the album it fits and sounds nice. Dancey, though it feels more like a filler.

08 - Mikes Bikes:
G. In Thailand, K. In North West MA (The Only Way That We Have)
[02:13]

Carty - The title track was my fave during this CD's first plays, but after almost 2 weeks of constant rotation, this has dropped down to number two. (Only because track 3 is so bloody good). This is a brilliantly written song and reminiscent of Kevin's tunes he did with Max on their "Silent Running" LP. The only thing I can criticise here is it's too sodding short! Add an intro, repeat one of the verses and add an outro and we'd be on a winner. Classic Mooney.

Steve - "All your pills and potions throw them in the ocean". Going somewhere there are no phone signals, let's escape. A nice little track.  Nice words again to this one.

09 - Green Grass Bike Shop:
Suits Of The Teddy Boys
[04:18]

Carty - There is a damn good song struggling to get out here. Kevin's turn on the lead vocals and that distortion is present again. Maybe it's how it would sound live, but it should be cleaned up for the studio. The backing track again is busy and not wide enough in the mix. I have to citicise the production. This has potential, but it's struggling to get to the surface.

Steve - This is an odd song, I don't know what to make of it. It's more busy than the rest, lot's going on at the same time. There seems to be a melody trying to fight it's way out.

10 - Jesus Version (For Beastly Cads.): 
Revival, Harrow V. Borstal.
[02:28]

Carty - The final track sends us into the chill-out lounge. Gary's attempting a bit of ragga-style vocals (with that distortion) while Kevin's singing about Jesus in the background. But the main vocals are drowning out the rest of the track. My least favourite out of the whole album (including "Black Pirates").

Steve - We finish with another odd track, but it's nicely led along by a nice drum rhythm. The album so far has been quite rocking and sing-along, these last 2 tracks are a bit trippy and odd, but overall, they fit on the album.

Mikes Bikes is available to buy from www.LeCoqMusique.com for £9.99