I agree these acts have something in common -- beyond just sounding exciting and fresh to my jaded ears (partly because of the things they sound like, of course!) -- but please can we resist the indie-ist scene-making? ;-) Even as a joke?
I think the differences are more striking than the similarities between these three acts, to be honest. Gwen Stefani's album reeks of older woman playing a teenager (this is a high school album, and its immersed in 80s-stadium-po(m)p / bratpack-soundtrack sounds as much as it is in radioplay hip-hop); Fannypack actually manage the young women loud and proud bit, without sounding forced, which is a miracle, and in no small part responsible for the charm of the album, and I see their sound as an update on electro; Robyn is a young woman trying to sound older, and so mixes that pop-tech R&B sound with more conventional europop and guitar ballad vibe.
I think Robyn and Fannypack could be linked in not being afraid of teh europop -- and particularly in the way they borrow from the Swedish reggae sound -- but the Stefani material is much more studied, and perhaps a little less exuberant as a result.
And Annie? No way. She is totally an indie-ist idea of what 'proper' pop should be. Anyone who thought she was going to be a big pop star was blatantly on teh crack. If anything, she's running a mile from the kind of almost kitsch vibe which Fannypack and Robyn handle with some class.
Actually, I think kitsch is a good way of looking at this: they've managed to take whatever the thing about europop is which makes it sound naff to UK/US ears, and combine it with more 'authentic' genres without falling down the middle.
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timeasmymeasure
Dissenting voice.
Date: 2005-07-19 10:11 am (UTC)I think the differences are more striking than the similarities between these three acts, to be honest. Gwen Stefani's album reeks of older woman playing a teenager (this is a high school album, and its immersed in 80s-stadium-po(m)p / bratpack-soundtrack sounds as much as it is in radioplay hip-hop); Fannypack actually manage the young women loud and proud bit, without sounding forced, which is a miracle, and in no small part responsible for the charm of the album, and I see their sound as an update on electro; Robyn is a young woman trying to sound older, and so mixes that pop-tech R&B sound with more conventional europop and guitar ballad vibe.
I think Robyn and Fannypack could be linked in not being afraid of teh europop -- and particularly in the way they borrow from the Swedish reggae sound -- but the Stefani material is much more studied, and perhaps a little less exuberant as a result.
And Annie? No way. She is totally an indie-ist idea of what 'proper' pop should be. Anyone who thought she was going to be a big pop star was blatantly on teh crack. If anything, she's running a mile from the kind of almost kitsch vibe which Fannypack and Robyn handle with some class.
Actually, I think kitsch is a good way of looking at this: they've managed to take whatever the thing about europop is which makes it sound naff to UK/US ears, and combine it with more 'authentic' genres without falling down the middle.