Customer Reviews

We Are the Pipettes

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With their retro fashion statement and girl-power solidarity, it would be hard to blame anyone for thinking of The Pipettes as a sort of Spice Girls for the Indie Rock set. However, beyond the visuals lies a pretty darn solid girl group revival band record. While not as Garagy as say, Ko and the Knockouts or The Downbeat 5 , the backing band is just tough enough to put a little bite behind the tunes and what groovy tunes they are. Whatever these gals' sugary-sweet confections lack in substance, they more than make up for in catchy hooks. Best of all is "Pull Shapes" with its mega "Dance With Me Chorus" backed by trilling strings and prominent hand claps. Its one of the most fun singles of the year and the rest of the album's 35 minutes is nearly enjoyable.

The demos are surprisingly better. This got old quickly, which I was sad to say. Light bubbly fun, some squeaky clean harmonies, cute and biting lyrics that are largely forgetable. Some of tracks did not seem paced well after final production. I will admit, I'm still in love with Gwenno Saunders' voice.

The Pipettes debut album isn't inventive or particularly groundbreaking, but it's fun and alive and it moves. Each of the sixteen tracks zip by with a surefire mix of pop sweetness and sassy lyrics backed by a great band and even better production. The arrangements are lush throwbacks to 60's girl group pop that give the album a good kick when it drags. All in all, this is a wonderful, if slight, album from a group I hope to hear more of in the future.