JUDGE POP vs THE PIPETTES

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

In the first of a rub new POPTIMISTS SERIES, Mega-City Pop's toughest JUDGE needs YOUR help to decide what sentence to pass on today's hot new "talents". First up are 'girl group' The Pipettes, who seem to divide Poptimists opinion, requiring arbitration from the unbending arm of THE LAW.

[Poll #759407]

So erm basically the poll is 'do you think the Pipettes are a good thing or a bad thing' and the comments box is where you suggest WHY.

Comments

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

against everything i hold dere, this bloody song, or just a 3-second loop of it, is TOTALLY stuck in my head

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

It would be inappropriate and boorish to drone on about the hottness of the brunette, so I won't do that.

Seeing as Joe Dredd is the biggest rockist of all time, meaning Judge Pop must be JUDDA (or KRAKEN), the answer must be city freedom. Even tho Pipettes are pop, indie, crap and good all at the same time.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Which one? Might I surmise 'Pull Shapes'?

[hoshuteki.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll tell you what, dear THE JUDGE, but this is hard for me. The photo you have posted there is of the early Pipettes, before they dumped Julia (on the left) and got some floozy in to replace her. I really liked them back then. Now, I find it hard to judge. They seem to be far more set on being faux-retro and it's a little bit irksome. On the other hand, they have some pleasing songs.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Basically, 'they cannot sing' is the reason why.

Shimura Curves >>>>>>>>>>>>> Pipettes

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Reasons to not like them:

- blah blah the pure pop sound of girl groups etc.
- they are mistaken for a better band which QUITE BY COINCIDENCE is full of people I know and like.


Reasons to like them:

- what they're ACTUALLY reviving is the 1984 sound of later Stiff Records and BELLE AND THE DEVOTIONS etc., this is an odd and pleasant choice for a 'sound' I think, even if it was kind of a revival itself. It just goes to show that 'retro' is almost always interesting despite itself. (I'm not sure I believe this)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Based on what I've heard, I don't think Pipettes are worse singers than Shimura Curves (plus prefer former's production in practice if not necess. conceptually). But is this really a good comparison? How similar are the two bands really?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yes, 100% agreed on both these points.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

reposted from ilx:

the problem with the pipettes is that the concept is brilliant and the execution is abysmal. they don't have any pop performative sensibilities at all, they don't have any understanding of how to convey all the things they want to. and they can't sing.

obviously this is not either/or but compare the way the pipettes sing their lyrics to how girls aloud, sugababes, christina milian, christina aguilera, will young and rihanna sing theirs - all of the names i mentioned have pretty instinctive commercial pop nous, they're extremely adept at conveying emotions and emotions-beneath-the-emotions and emotions-at-odds-with-actual-words and subtleties and nuances, and their producers and arrangers are also extremely adept at this. the pipettes are sterile in comparison - i don't feel compelled by their songs at all.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i was gonna say the one on the left doesn't look the one i've seen in vids, photos and such. this explains that then.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Mari Wilson. Tracey Ullman. ("Pull Shapes" is nowhere near as good as "They Don't Know" but it's a lot better than "Just What I Always Wanted")

WHICH IS THE PUNISHMENT?

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

surely isocubes >>>>> freedom of megacity one!

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'They Don't Know' is superb, as is early Bananarama (as everyone would agree?) and these are the standards that are not being met by anyone in this vein today, sez me.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Yep, that about sums it up why the don't work musically. And that's before we get on to the whole business of the drooling indie boy fans, the 'ooh, aren't they a glamourous antidote to other indie' attitude and the whole pure pop concept which is an idea which should have fvcked off and died in 1988.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

In case it wasn't clear, I rly hate them, and they totally bring out the Lex in me.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

And I hated them before I heard them, because of the critical reception, which was so, so offputting. I was v.glad that they sounded bobbins as well.

Re: WHICH IS THE PUNISHMENT?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What did Judge Dredd say at the David Bowie gig?

"Five Years", creep!

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

It seems unfair to hold many up against "They Don't Know" as it is PURRFECT.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

yes, they often seem to make people call them "PURE PERFECT POP! (unspoken but implied: as opposed to all that horrid pop in the charts)"

They seem to me to be playing at pop rather than being pop.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

It is a bad comparison, but I was jumping on the bandwagon.

Quality of singing judgement based on live performance (as indeed was comparison with SC). I've not heard any Pipettes records.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well the "perfect pop" meme is an old and recurring one, and yes there is the unspoken "we are an alternative to pop as well as being pop" thing, but that doesn't really annoy me much if the songs are good. (I have only heard Pull Shapes, it is a jolly pastiche).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

the pipettes' live performance i saw on tv = awful caterwauling voices
shimura curves = i hadn't been aware that three of them could sing at ALL and was v pleasantly surprised to discover that not only could they sing, but they had very nice individual styles

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

The honest truth is that I thought they were rubbish when just listening to songs (and after viewing an early video - "Dirty Mind" I expect). As noted above, a good girl vocal group needs to have actual singers. Substitution of new Welsh blonde means there is now one actual singer and two shouty ones.

However, after watching "Pull Shapes" video, I am a convert. They are FUN and fun is GOOD. Production values have improved, although there are some suspicious choices. Now, is it fair for me to change my mind based on having seen the video?

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i've only heard both bands on record, not live.

oh you indie types and your "gigs"!

interesting that people are focussing on the vocals/singing in criticism as opposed to production. i suppose it is the pivot of whether or not you will want to hear a song tho.

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

It kind of depends. I used to HATE them, still hate them as a band really, and there are so many things about them that I just find horrible. But the problem is that I heard a copy of their album the other day and I really enjoyed it, there are some lovely tunes on it.

In a week I'll be sick of Pull Shapes, though, I know that. I love it today, I will love it tonight when I'm drunk, but in a week I'll think it's cack.