The Pipettes

• Genre: Retro/Vintage

About

The Pipettes aren't the first to resurrect the 1960s Brill Building/Phil Spector girl group sound, but they're probably the most thorough. Matching polka dot dresses? Check. Synchronized dance moves? Check. And, of course, three-part harmonies as sweet and cozy as a slumber party with your best girlfriends. But the Pipettes lace their one-ice-cream-soda-and-two-straws sound with a shot of whiskey, they put the "malt (liquor)" in "malted," they ... well, you get the picture. The Pipettes are hipsters from present-day Brighton, UK, not homecoming queens from Iowa, circa 1963. Accordingly, their edgy homage, while positively reveling in all that was great about the Phil/Brill aesthetic, is that of a post-Bikini Kill girl group.

The Pipettes were assembled by Brighton producer Monster Bobby and original Pipette Julia, who recruited Becki and Rose; Julia left the band and was replaced by Gwenno in 2004. Backed by the Cassettes, the girls began gigging around the UK and releasing a string of limited-edition singles that whetted the appetites of downloaders and labels alike, including Memphis Industries, which put out the group's debut in July 2006.

- Rachel Devitt