The Pipettes

With production as echoing and effervescent as the school gym at prom and snug-as-a-sweater-set harmonizing about boys and dancing, We Are the Pipettes is the stuff of sock hops and daydreams. Except the Pipettes are more grrrl group than girl group, and their version of Phil Spector's wall of sound is more postmodern than patriarchal. So instead of chaste dalliances with the leader of the pack, we get more explicit material, like "Sex," "One Night Stand" and "Judy," which takes the time to befriend a bad girl and figure out what makes her so "rude."

America always loves a bit of fake English Motown, from George Michael and Banana-rama
to Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson. But the Pipettes have none of Winehouse’s soul
aspirations --just better songs and more sex. These three cheeky hair-hoppers dress the
part: Gwenno is the brittle blonde, RiotBecki is the punk rocker, and Rosay is the
pheromone-scrambling brunet vamp. On their long-delayed U.S. debut, the Pipet... More >