Customer Reviews

We Are The Pipettes

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've had the import for almost a year, but I had a gift card and used it to buy the US version; different cover, more RiotBecki pics, and support the group.
Threw it in the player and Geez Louise! It's been remixed! And it sounds AWFUL. Everything is so in your face, there's no subtlety at all. The only good thing is I can make out more of the words (but is that what rock and roll is about... annunciation? NO.).
Mixer Greg Wells strikes me as the type of person who would fix a Rolex with a hammer.
BUY THE IMPORT. The sound is more true to the girl group/Wall of Sound vibe these songs give off. Whatever money you have to pay (and there's some decent prices on amazon Marketplace), is worth it.We Are the Pipettes

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year, you've heard of The Pipettes. In case you haven't though, I'll catch you up. The Pipettes are a neo-girl pop group made up of three British vixens that wear matching polka-dot outfits. They are backed by an all-male band known as The Cassettes and their music has a very heavy 1950s pop feel to it despite lyrics that are made more for a 2007 audience. There's been a lot of hype around this group since their debut album released over a year ago. It's just now making it's way to the US with two bonus tracks, and for those who imported it, it's probably not worth a purchase. For everyone else though, The Pipettes is a band you should know and one worth listening to.

If the whole concept of The Pipettes seems kind of silly and, dare I say, gimmicky, that's because it kind of is. But despite that, the music here is still excellent and fairly infectious. All of the songs have a very sing-along feel to them and it's hard not to fall in love with it. The opening track, "We Are the Pipettes" finds RiotBecky, Gwenno, and Rosay (yes, those are stage names) introducing themselves to the world, declaring "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!" This sort of humor is the thread that ties the whole album together. For example, in "Your Kisses are Wasted on Me" the girls take the tried-and-true "boy, I'm too good for you" song and make it worth listening to with a line like "Boy get out of my face! Boy I'm going back there to chase some other guy that I might like." The chorus to the song is downright heartless, but at the same time, pretty humorous.

"ABC," tells the story of a bookworm who's too busy studying that he forgets about romance. The Pipettes sing "He knows about ABC, 123, XYZ, but he don't know about XTC." Get it? Of course you do! "Pull Shapes" is my absolute favorite track on the album and has been since last year's debut. The song is a shameless dance track, complete with skittering violin arpeggios (think 1970s disco music) and the order to "clap your hands if you want some more!" Oh, I do, I really do.

If "Dirty Mind" sounds familiar to you, you might have heard it in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, or you might have heard it in your dreams. Chances are, it was in both. It's a great song, and one of the album's best! "A Winter's Sky" tones down the girl-power for a few minutes and gives us the album's first ballad. The girls harmonize beautifully here, but it's clear that the strength of this group comes more from the upbeat pop songs than songs like this. Still, a semi-ballad like "Tell Me What You Want" works pretty well, and leaves some hope for variety on future Pipettes albums. As for this album's two bonus tracks, they're not really worth a lot of fuss, so if you picked up the UK release of "We Are the Pipettes," don't worry about re-buying.

So sure, The Pipettes are kind of a gimmick, but unlike most gimmicks this group is really talented. RiotBecky, Gwenno, and Rosay have absolutely beautiful voices and they harmonize well together. The Cassettes don't get a lot of attention (they stand behind three women in coordinating outfits, remember?), but their ability to recreate the sounds of 1950s pop-music is unparalleled these days. I'm not entirely convinced that The Pipettes current style of pop music wouldn't wear thin on me by the time a second album rolls around. Gwenno is currently working on a solo album and early tracks hint at an electro-pop album, much like The Postal Service. It might be cool to hear the whole group do something similar and take the Pipettes in an entirely different direction. But for the time being "We Are the Pipettes" is awesome and I couldn't be happier!

Recommended for fans of Camera Obscura and anyone who wanted the 1950s to be a little raunchier.

Key Tracks:
1. "We are the Pipettes"
2. "Pull Shapes"
3. "Dirty Mind"
4. "Your Kisses are Wasted on Me"
5. "Tell Me What You Want"

7 out of 10 Stars

Well if you haven't noticed this album is much different sounding than then the (in my humble opinion vastly superior) UK version.

The downsides include:

1.) Distracting additional instruments which is especially found in "Tell Me What You Want"
2.) Different instrumental leads such as the guitar intro drowning out the piano intro in "Dirty Mind."
3.) Some songs like "Pull Shapes" sound chopped up.

On the upside:

1.) "It Hurts To See You Dance So Well" now has the intro they perform live which adds needed immediacy to the song's opener. It sounds so perfect that when I first heard it live it nearly made me cream my jeans.
2.) 2 excellent bonus tracks. "Dance & Boogie," a synth lead pop gem, at first sounded incredibly corny (then again a lot of people who I have played the album for thought they were corny from start to finish). But much like these detractors with continued listens it becomes more infectious and a pleasure to listen to. And "Baby, Just Be Yourself" is a wonderful '50s-esque ballad that again may seem like chump change, but has the ability to grow on you like the most vicious of diseases.

Whether or not this album is for you depends on a few factors. How big a fan you are, would you rather spend the extra $10 for the import, and are the bonus tracks worth it. If I'm missing any criteria than I apologize. But in my opinion though it sounds very overproduced it is 100% worth it for $10 to hear one of the best new bands to come out in the past couple of years.

These ladies' talent is worth every penny. Overproduced or not.

Hey, I've known about the Pippettes for over a year, and I've had the album in mixed-up form since a friend burned me a 26-track CD of their stuff he found online...the full album, B-sides, demos, live tracks, etc, but I wanted a regular copy for the artwork...I noticed the cover on the newly released US version is quite different, less proper 50s/60s and more B-movie, "Attack Of The 50 Foot Women", which is pretty cool and worth a smile or two. I also noticed 2 bonus tracks, which I think I have on that 26-tracker...oh and the band is great live, with the girls doing cool little routines in their polka-dot dresses, the Cassettes boys backing them up tightly, and the girls taking turns on a second keyboard placed upfront and left.

Now, I popped on the CD and I noticed it doesn't sound like the same versions as the original import, the singles and 26-tracker!!! Sounds like new 2007 rerecordings!!! Not just the tracks with slightly different beats, like on the US album's title track...the boomboom in the middle of the signature keyboard melody line is missing, for instance, but the vocals sound different and new...also my fave, "One Night Stand", is not the same track as the one I loved from the import!! I'm not saying this is bad...the new versions are cool...but I was expecting the import album and US album to be EXACTLY the same...that's why I waited!!! If I had known the album was going to be completely redone for the US market, I would have bought the album a LOOOOOOONG time ago (the reason why I gave this US version 4 stars instead of 5, cuz this was a bit of a letdown)...BUT I have the original versions on the 26-tracker, so I'll just keep both versions, combine them and compare, mix & match...that'll be fun.

The Pippettes rule anyway, I love Gwenno, who was charming and VERY attractive in the flesh...cool about her solo album, I will buy that, cuz Gwenno rocks.

It's been a long time since a great album has been produced in the 'girl group' style of the 50's & 60's. I liked this album the first time I heard it and it has only grown on my since. Plus there is something very seductive with 3 pretty English women singing such an innocent music style with some very modern twists.

Catchy tunes, fun beats... not all the songs are great, but it's a worthwhile album.

This is brilliant. Just get it. The U.S. release features a better sounding mix than the original U.K. mix and features two bonus tracks.

Just thought I'd say that the album is not re recorded for the States, it's just remixed.

Great album by a fun group. reminds me of (We've Got a) Fuzzbox (and We're Going to Use It) and I mean that in a complimentary way.

Being attractive definitely helps in the music business, for better or worse. I checked out this new girl group because I saw their pictures in one of my latest issues of Spin, which had all these accolades littered around their polka-dot dresses and sexy poses. Good decision! (This wasn't the first time I've found a musician I've liked based on their looks, but hey, you've got to sort through all the music out there somehow, right?)

Anyway The Pipettes are Riot Becki, Gwenno, and Rosay. They are backed by a four-piece band called The Casettes, and hail from the UK. Unfortunately I won't be able to see them in Chicago in a couple weeks, but if you have the chance I hear they put on quite the show, complete with coordinated outfits and dance moves.

Okay, their music. Apparently these girls (who write, sing, and switch off on the keyboards) / the band (led and managed by the guitarist Monster Bobby) thought that the music scene in the UK the last few years sucked (I wonder if the local radios over there are any worse than most of the garbage on ours...), and when Bobby was DJing / promoting all over the place he realized that whenever he put on 60's girl band records people just started dancing, and reacted more enthusiastically than with all the other stuff that he'd play. So they came up with the idea of going back to that sound and putting a modern spin on it. They wanted to go back to a time before the Beatles changed everything.

"We Are the Pipettes is a modern indie pop album, and a classic one at that," raves Pitchfork. The U.S. version of the album (the yellow cover) has two additional songs and has been completely remixed so the tracks sound cleaner. It's a short album, with an average track length of about 2:30, but it's a really fun album to listen to, and the variety throughout is surprising. I suppose with music like this the only drawback would be getting sick of it, but the songs are so damn catchy that they'll be in your head for weeks. The songs' subjects suggest that these girls are very confident, and like Lily Allen show their independence and their disdain for clingy guys, as well as their somewhat insatiable sexuality..."Pull Shapes" is definitely my favorite track, because it just makes you want to dance and be happy (I just want to move / I don't care what the song's about)-and who the hell knows what it means to "pull shapes" anyway? Also check out "Judy," "Because It's Not Love" and the rest, streamed at their official website. This is very fresh, inventive stuff that fills a much-needed niche in one's listening repertoire.