Monday 3 November 2008

Girls Aloud: Out Of Control



Six years, five albums and 19 Top Ten hits: Girls Aloud are a pop-wannabe's dream.
Certainly, for a product of the reality TV machine, the group continue to defy critics with ever-catchier songs and a longevity that's down to more than just attention from the red tops.
Success is, in part, thanks to the services of Brian Higgins's Xenomania production company, which is all over the Girls' latest outing like a rash.
A checklist of pop genres have been systematically ticked off here: if you think that's an exaggeration, listen to dancehall-style Revolution In The Head, complete with Nadine Coyle's superbly embarrassing bashment chat.
Elsewhere, you get club-floor dance, 1980s electro (particularly on the Pet Shop Boys collaboration, The Loving Kind), the 1960s vibe of their current single, The Promise, and drum'n'bass beats.
This soundclash may be nothing new but here it feels as though the goal may be real music rather than stick-in-your-head chart-busters.
A litter of sure-fire singles have, of course, been included but there's a tentative move away from crowd-pleasing hits that, though not entirely convincing, might coax the cynics down off their musical high horses.



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