The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes

You have no idea how pleasing it was to visit the sacred ground of Pitchfork’s Best New Music section to discover I knew three of the last six recommendations. Gone are the days of haplessly catching up, I’m finally starting to match it with the best. Granted, I’d heard only one song by one of these bands and had simply ‘heard of’ the other but it was progress! Nestled among those two however, was this album, an album that I was more than familiar with and itching to spread the word about. Of course it goes without saying which review is more worthy of your time, while theirs is plagued by an overblown intro and unnecessary wording, designed only to puff up the image of the author, mine is…guilty to a lesser degree. I should probably give you an advanced warning to not listen to this band if you’d feel uncomfortable singing “rest your pretty head” or “your kisses are wasted on me” in public. Because this is exactly what their music will do to you. No prizes here for guessing what kind of music they make. If the cheesy album cover didn’t give it away surely the band name ending in ‘ettes’ did. Yes, The Pipettes’ music harks back to the glory days of 60’s girl groups. It’s infectious pop music that’s blissfully simple and dripping with sexual innuendo. The band consists of three of the self-confessed “prettiest girls you’ve met”, decked out in high heals and spotty dresses accompanied by a backing band which pales into insignificance behind these dancing divas. The Pipettes succeed in all the same ways as their 60’s counterparts, the vocal harmonies, the catchy melodies but their music has a certain edge to it that sets them apart and makes them well worth your time.

Judy – The strong lead voice, soothing backing vocals and finger clicking in this song mean that on first glance it may appear like a traditional girl group pop song, but lines like “the older boys would stop and turn their heads, the older girls wished that she was dead” highlight how it is something very different. It demonstrates the degree of self-awareness and wit so central to their winning formula

Sex – This definitely isn’t the kind of song I’d go around telling everyone I liked……Am I losing it? Probably. Am I concerned? Not slightly. Pop music carries such a stigma due to all the associated commercialism and often questionable lyrics, but on a musical level it is an equally challenging and equally rewarding art.