The Pipettes
We Are The Pipettes
(Interscope)
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Of course, the Pipettes are a put-on, said Mike Powell in Stylus. RiotBecki, Gwenno, and Rosay “dance in unison and don’t blink, but they’re not campy.” From Brighton, England, the Pipettes are a true girl group, less sexy than the Pussycat Dolls, but less saccharine than the Spice Girls. Their knack for great hooks, combined with the album’s heavy Motown bass lines and dramatic strings, instead give the Pipettes more of a Shangri-Las style. Their catchy, unavoidably kitschy U.S. debut offers “14 tracks of perfectly executed pop that nod as easily to Belle & Sebastian as they do Phil Spector,” said David Greenwald in Billboard. The cheeky threesome doesn’t fall victim to the heartache and distress that plagued girl groups of the past. The sweet little sexpots may be retro, but they are shamelessly raunchy. On “Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me” and “Dirty Mind,” they sing of love affairs that begin and basically end on the dance floor. The shimmy-shaking “Pull Shapes” and “One Night Stand” make “delicious dessert treats, aspiring to little more,” said Josh Modell in Spin. As the former song says: “I just wanna move / I don’t care what the song’s about.” The Pipettes aren’t looking for much, nor should you. They’re just a few good-time gals who want to sing doo-wop and dance.
