The Pipettes

My friend Punkmachine is my lifeline to new bands and artists. His computer is a non-stop downloading machine and he always seems to 'discover' new bands way ahead of anyone else. So once in a while he presents me with a data DVD full of MP3's (may the record companies turn in their soon-to-be graves). I'd say the percentage of that which I love, like and hate is 20%, 50% and 30% respectively. Although the percentages change with time as certain things grow on me.

The 30% I 'hate' is usually Punkmachine doing his best to get me into hip-hop or dancehall/reggae artists which I generally find boring and monotonous. I'm a sucker for melodies and flat notes. Dunno why. He is also a punk-lover (what a surprise ) but apart from a pretty good The Exploited compilation he once made for me, his punk tastes are a little too hard on my eardrums and general sense of well-being.

On his most recent DVD there was The Pipettes. Catchy, 60's, Phil-Spector-sounding girl band who wear a lot of polka dotted dresses. I love their track We Are the Pipettes and quite liked the rest, but not enough to buy. Then I saw that they had a webcast from Paradiso on fabchannel.com and I can say I am mighty annoyed I missed that concert. It looks like it was a lot of fun. They really made a show of it (more than I can say for Lily Allen last Friday night, but that's another story) and Gwenno (the blonde one without glasses) fascinates me. She looks like a cross between Barbie, Sharon Stone, Patsy Kensit and a Stepford Wife. They really looked like they were having a good time in Paradiso.

So I have been listening to more of their stuff and I like much of it a lot. Their single Dirty Mind however, is quite a rip off of the B-52's Roam. Have a listen and see if you agree.