The Pipettes' girl group schtick saw them gain just as many admirers as detractors when they emerged into the limelight last year. For every polka dotted admirer, there was a disparager saying they weren't 'real' enough or that they couldn't sing.
The defamers miss the point, as there was nothing authentic about the prefabricated groups from which they crib. Phil Spector went to the Brill Building for his songs and lead Shangri-La, Mary Weiss wasn't all that hot a singer. The emphasis with this music is on melody and catchiness and you can't fault The Pipettes when it comes to these pop cornerstones.
The big question with tonight's gig is whether the bubblegum has turned stale. Despite what story the sparse crowd tells, it hasn't. Tonight, The Pipettes come over less arch and studied than before. The choreographed dance moves now come much easier and while you still wouldn't back any of them to get through the auditions for The X-Factor, the everyday quality of their voices are a perfect fit for their universally infectious tunes.
The gig is a great reminder of just how good those tunes are. 'Pull Shapes' and 'Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me' rank among the best pop tunes of the last five years and the new ones they air are just as effortlessly breezy and joyous. The more well-oiled a machine The Pipettes become, the closer they are to achieving the heights of the bands they venerate.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2561&band=856
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Album: Electrelane - No Shouts No Calls (Too Pure)
Having perfected a brand of playfully experimental indie-rock on their previous three albums, culminating in the messy, fitfully thrilling Axes, No Shouts, No Calls sees Electrelane ploughing a much more linear furrow. For the first time, song craft and way with melody is pushed to the fore in favour of an immediate, often catchy sensibility. It's a bold move, one that will irk the purists, but it's one that feels entirely natural and a big, brave step forward for the band.
This directness still comes allied to the influences that have driven Electrelane's sound thus far (Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Neu!) but grounding these more outré elements in touching pop songs full of desperation and regret is what makes No Shouts, No Calls arguably the crowning achievement of their career. From the opening paean to loss of innocence, 'The Greater Times', replete with Verity Susman's charmingly off-key vocal and yearning moog line, it's obvious that this clarity of sound suits the band well.
There's some really startling songs here; the sprightly, ukulele-driven indie-pop of 'Cut And Run', or the infectious, farfisa-heavy jam of 'Tram 21' (the instrumentals actually feel less incongruous here than they have before) for example. Some may pine for the atmosphere and nuance of The Power Out, but in rounding off some of the edges that made them a great band in the first place, they've opened up a range of possibilities as they head into what could be a rewarding second phase for the band.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2450&band=1657
This directness still comes allied to the influences that have driven Electrelane's sound thus far (Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Neu!) but grounding these more outré elements in touching pop songs full of desperation and regret is what makes No Shouts, No Calls arguably the crowning achievement of their career. From the opening paean to loss of innocence, 'The Greater Times', replete with Verity Susman's charmingly off-key vocal and yearning moog line, it's obvious that this clarity of sound suits the band well.
There's some really startling songs here; the sprightly, ukulele-driven indie-pop of 'Cut And Run', or the infectious, farfisa-heavy jam of 'Tram 21' (the instrumentals actually feel less incongruous here than they have before) for example. Some may pine for the atmosphere and nuance of The Power Out, but in rounding off some of the edges that made them a great band in the first place, they've opened up a range of possibilities as they head into what could be a rewarding second phase for the band.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2450&band=1657
Single: Calvin Harris - Acceptable In The 80s (Fly Eye)
You'll have heard this one by now, seeing as it's all over the radio and satellite video channels like the virus it is. Harris charmlessly intones that he's "got love for you, if you were born in the 80s", over obnoxious, cheap-sounding synths a la Jacques Lu Cont, only with about a hundredth of his pop nous. If there's ever been a case for lying about your age then this is it. I was born in 1980, but I don't want any of Harris' love. In fact, I hope I never hear this again. Apparently it's going to be a huge hit. That clunking sound you just heard was the sound of a nation's standards being lowered.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2458&band=1658
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2458&band=1658
Album: The Hours - Narcissus Road (A&M)
The Hours trade on the fact they’re survivors. Antony Genn and Martin Slattery have been on the fringes or in the background for a decade or so; Genn with Elastica and Pulp, while Slattery played keyboards in Black Grape. The cynicism that comes with experience is all over debut, Narcissus Road, leading the album to sound like an episode of Grumpy Old Men soundtracked by Doves. If that sounds harsh or reductive then that’s because all the bluster and noise conjured up is merely a transparent fascia for an awful lot of fist-shaking that rings a little hollow. The album talks a good fight, but where’s the depth?
Narcissus Road is a morass of crashing piano chords, chiming guitars, needless string sections and clever-clever intertextuality that never knits together as a satisfying whole. Occasionally, The Hours strike the right balance between skyscraping, arena-rock musicality and sneering knowingness, like on ‘Ali In The Jungle’ and the slyly funky ‘Love You More’, both of which have fire in their belly to spare, something which is sorely missing elsewhere on the album.
More often than not though, Narcissus Road descends into joyless balladeering, ham-fisted referencing and excruciating attempts at injecting songs with intensity that come over contrived. Their cause seems more noble than most bands of their ilk, but there’s little more than a streak of calculated world-weariness separating The Hours from Snow Patrol or Embrace. Disappointingly flat in spite of its obvious ambition, Narcissus Road is a tiresome listening experience that is more likely to have you chewing your fist in frustration than pumping it with elation.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2323&band=1440
Narcissus Road is a morass of crashing piano chords, chiming guitars, needless string sections and clever-clever intertextuality that never knits together as a satisfying whole. Occasionally, The Hours strike the right balance between skyscraping, arena-rock musicality and sneering knowingness, like on ‘Ali In The Jungle’ and the slyly funky ‘Love You More’, both of which have fire in their belly to spare, something which is sorely missing elsewhere on the album.
More often than not though, Narcissus Road descends into joyless balladeering, ham-fisted referencing and excruciating attempts at injecting songs with intensity that come over contrived. Their cause seems more noble than most bands of their ilk, but there’s little more than a streak of calculated world-weariness separating The Hours from Snow Patrol or Embrace. Disappointingly flat in spite of its obvious ambition, Narcissus Road is a tiresome listening experience that is more likely to have you chewing your fist in frustration than pumping it with elation.
http://www.highvoltage.org.uk/displaydemoreview.asp?num=2323&band=1440
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