6:23pm Friday 13th August 2010
By Harris Dee
THE SATURDAYS: Headlines! (Fascination Records): THE LIKE: Release Me (Downtown/Polydor): SO is it an album or isn’t it? Perhaps it’s a mini-album (as the girls describe it themselves) or a mini greatest hits album if they have actually got such a thing after just two proper albums?
So its all a bit of a mix really, this new release by “Britain’s favourite girl group” The Saturdays which is another strange thing – there aren’t any more at the moment are there? What with Girls Aloud on hold and Sugababes doing who knows what.
Headlines! has just eight tracks and three of those we saw on the previous album ‘Wordshaker’ less than a year ago – the singles ‘Forever Is Over’ and ‘Ego’ plus another song called ‘One Shot’, albeit remixed versions. So does that constitute a greatest hits album or mini album? The singles did both make the top ten after all and they’ve had six songs charting from their two albums.
So we know what those tracks sound like, how about the rest? The first single (if there is to be more than one) is Missing You, an echoey synth effort that really hasn’t got big hit stamped on it. The rest tip the hat to Lady G with ‘Kerma’ a slightly rockier sound and ‘Higher’ perhaps the pick of the bunch.
But is this a value for money album? It’s good pop synth electropop dance music if you like it but it won’t set the world on fire and looks a little like a last throw of the dice to get the girls properly recognised as a serious group, despite their previous chart success.
Not sure if this will do it you know.
NOW it’s a different story with The Like, an LA based indie alternative rock girl band with a 60s habit – and you’ll get a chance of seeing them in Bristol in September The band has two of its former members remaining – Elizabeth (Z) Berg whose father Tony is a top producer, and Tennessee Thomas, born in London and the band’s drummer – her father is Pete, drummer with Elvis Costello’s Attractions.
They have now added an organist to the line-up and the sound is very different from the first album from 2006 ‘Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking’ when they signed to Geffen Records and toured worldwide with their folksy poppy sound.
The result is a tighter, much more classy affair with yes a 60s sound but who cares? They make it sound so good under the control of Mark Ronson who produced Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’.
There are some throwbacks - to the Shangri Las on ‘Square One’, and the Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Keep on Running’ echoes out from ‘In the End’. ‘Narcissus’ has bass, snare and organ to make a superb single if they wished while ‘He’s Not a Boy’ is good fun pop and is the first single. I also liked ‘Walk of Shame’ and the punkish Lily Allen sound on ‘Fair Game’.
Z Berg’s vocals are superb and this do-wop girl band could have a surprise hit on their hands – I hope so as I was more than surprised myself! It’s a very mod retro sound and look that the band has conjured up for itself in the five years between albums.
The other band members are Annie Munroe and Laena Geronimo.
Fresh off their US tour with the Arctic Monkeys, the band returned to the UK in May for a storming string of London dates and, following a tour of Australia with The Strokes, they will return to the UK this month for Reading and Leeds before hitting the road for a full UK tour in September.
UK tour dates 28 Aug – Leeds Festival 29 Aug – Reading Festival 1st Sept – Glasgow King Tuts 2nd Sept – Newcastle The Cluny 3rd Sept – Manchester Ruby Lounge 4th Sept – Sheffield Plug 5th Sept – Nottingham Bodega 7th Sept – Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach 8th Sept – Birmingham The Rainbow 9th Sept – Bristol Start The Bus 10th Sept – Oxford Jericho 11th Sept – Brighton Audio 13th Sept – Cambridge Haymakers 15th Sept – London ICA
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