A Year In Pop: 6

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

In the new ever-changing world of the charts, a new entry at #2 is apparently quite exciting, even (or especially?) if it's perennial pop controversialists the Kaiser Chiefs.

[Poll #926992]

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Kaiser Chiefs: less obnoxious than other Kaiser stuff, sounds rly like Supergrass when they were forced to write a second album. Don't hate it, don't like it.

Jessica: yes, good stuff, it's been around for aaaaaaaaaages though.

2Pac: the actual 2Pac content on these singles is getting lower and lower, unsurprisingly. It's a bit tragic that he must be one of the two biggest hip-hop acts in the UK.

Ericke: Not interesting or hooky enough to fill my haircut house needs.

JT: When the album first came out I thought this was the standout track, but it's shrunk on me a bit. As Lex says, still any good at all. I think he should have released the Coldplay one.

FHM HSH: See response to Ben!

Long Blondes: My main problem with this is that it really in NO WAY needs to be five minutes long. It's a very marginal tick, but still just about a tick - pretty, underwhelming Too Pure style indiepop. Is there a fuss or buzz about them? Adds to the variety of the Top 40, tho.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Long Blondes are favourites of a lot of people who like "indie" but don't like what indie has become (esp the laddier variants of it). They were on the Plan B cover (though a bit out of place there tbh).

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Oh OK - I liked the first minute or two of it actually, kind of Postcard-y (more accurate than my Too Pure comparison), but it just went on and on. Do they have 'good lyrics'?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

They definitely have "good lyrics" (with big words, too) and are keen for the listener to note this. The first thing I heard by them - which was a lot more FF than this - was called 'Appropriation (By Any Other Name)' which says it all.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Yes, in so far as Pulp had. And as miss AMP said somewhere (her site's still blocked at work), there's going to be some interesting layers to the phrase 'female Jarvis' even if that's all she is.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Well, Pulp had lyrics which got my attention from the off, which clearly this lot don't - all I can remember is the chorus line, "She won't take you to giddy stratosphers", which seems clunky and forced, though its hook was pretty good.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

There's a 'single mix of the Long Blondes track which clocks in around three and a half. I don't like it because it removes the spoken 'there's a train at the station' bit, and like all Sheffield bands they are ace at spoken bits.