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This review was originally published in Southern Oregon’s Siskiyou Newspaper.
Now that the Spice Girls have reformed (God help us…), it seems that girl power is about to make a sizeable return. However, for those who prefer a more “indie” take on girl power then The Pipettes are the choice of the thinking (or drunk) girls of today. Their 50’s and 60’s influenced indie pop is sure to set them apart from the competition, with catchy, smutty hooks that will have you humming all the way home.
With matching polka-dot dresses and seamless ’60s-inspired choreography, The Pipettes formed in 2004. “We are The Pipettes” is the debut album from them, released last Tuesday after waiting almost a year since its UK release. Each of the songs we can relate to, no matter what experiences you’ve had – the lyrics, direct, funny, interesting and personal. The three girls (RiotBecki, Gwenno and Rosay) have stormed the UK and look set to do the same here with discerning indie kids, with girls who want to be them and guys who want to be with them.
Starting off the album relatively cleanly, opening song “We Are the Pipettes” sees the girls set out their manifesto: “We are the Pipettes, and we’ve got no regrets, if you haven’t noticed yet, we’re the prettiest girls you’ve ever met”. Cheesy, yes, but that’s nothing compared to what “Pull Shapes” brings. Sounding right at home in a remake of Grease, this is possibly one of the campest songs in their collection - “Dance with me, pretty boy tonight, dance with me, and we’ll be alright”. No matter who you are, “Pull Shapes” will have you dancing wherever you are.
As the collection progresses the album moves on to more complex issues. “Sex” starts off with a simple driving drum background before things speed up a bit – “let’s stop with all the talking, why not try something new? Because there’s no need for any talking in what we’re about to do”. “One night stand” tells the story of exactly that: sneaking out the morning after, with the catchy chorus of “I don’t love you, if you think that this is cruel, then you should see what my friends do,”
Closing off the collection with “I love you”, we get a feeling that at the end of the debauchery of the previous songs the girls have had their fun and just want to settle down with a nice guy and go off into the sunset. They’ve played hard, now it’s time to settle down – we wonder what this means for their second album, though hopefully it will be another collection of catchy asides on their late night exploits.
