Anyone who knows about the Tour de France knows that polka dots signify the King of the Mountains, the man who consistently cycles over the peaks better than anyone else. Anyone who knows about music however, knows that polka dots signify the queens of retro-modern pop, The Pipettes. While Michael Rasmussen triumphs over the Alps, Becki, Rose and Gwenno scale new heights of their own on their debut album.

Opening proceedings with their anthem and title track, as all good fun bands should, they demonstrate their sassy more contemporary edge, bursting forth with vigour à la the Spice Girls or Shampoo before them. That’s only half the story though, and the other half follows swiftly in the form of recent single Pull Shapes, with its Spectoresque Wall Of Sound strings, and Why Did You Stay?’s motorbike guitars and girly chatting vocals. Forget Shampoo (and I’m sure you’d like to), this is pure pop Shangri-La.

The other great girl group trick that the latter song pulls off is its neat gender reversal, whereby it’s the gals doing the heartbreakin’ not the guys. This theme reappears later on the wonderful One Night Stand, with its spiky refrain of “if you think that this is cruel, then you should see what my friends do”.

Longstanding fans, the type that probably saw them playing seventeenth on the bill at the Barfly in 1996 or something, have grumbled that early singles like ABC and Dirty Mind have been rerecorded and polished up for this record and lost some of their punky charm. Face it saddoes, they’re not a bloody Barfly band anymore and these new versions are fucking great pop songs.

Happily, and somewhat surprisingly some might say, there’s nothing even close to a duff track on here. Judy is all finger clicks and gorgeous harmonies, A Winter’s Sky adds an elegance and sweetness you didn’t quite expect and Because It’s Not Love (But It’s Still A Feeling) is just sublime.

The album finishes as perfectly as it began with the beautifully simple sentiment of I Love You. Unlike the three-week marathon that is the Tour de France, ‘We Are The Pipettes’ is a giddy 33-minute sprint through a fabulous flurry of doo-wops, handclaps and sha-la-la-ing. Long may they wear their polka dots with pride.

What's your view? Comment on the Forum

Other discussions on the SoundsXP forums right now...

Spread the word: Email this article

NAT JOHNSON - Interview

BROKEN FAMILY BAND - Live

SLOW DOWN TALLAHASSEE - Live

WAKE THE PRESIDENT - Live

WAVE PICTURES - Live

SCREAMING TEA PARTY - Live

DARREN HAYMAN - Live

SPEEDMARKET AVENUE - Live

BRAKES - Interview

OF MONTREAL - Live