The Pipettes
Pull Shapes

Lately, poor England is suffocating under the useless weight of astonishingly mediocre bands that are always the same, like Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, and similar nonsense.

In terms of the music scene, despite soulless shells like DJ Francesco and fake cool guys like the hardpop masters Finley, or the various Meneguzzi, Dirisio etc., we're doing better.

A faint hope comes from the alternative scene, which has recently seen the birth of a female group inspired by the vintage scene from the years preceding the Beach Boys, Beatles, and Rolling Stones phenomena: we are talking about the Pipettes, three girls named Becki, Gwenno, and Rose.

The single "Pull Shapes" is taken from their debut album "We Are The Pipettes," made in collaboration with the British band The Cassettes (whose members can also be seen in the video on Flux and All Music). As mentioned before, the melody has a delightfully retro sound, with the band perfectly capturing the '50s atmosphere, even imitating the clothing (blue dresses with white polka dots, a sight to behold). Keyboards find extensive use in the song, reproducing the sounds of violin, trumpet, and piano. The girls do not behave like a modern girl band; they are not extreme beauties, they have a rather modest attitude, in short, they are an example to follow.

Nevertheless, the song has several weak points, such as the quite shocking banality of the lyrics, which are repeated abundantly (how many times does the trio invite the audience in the room to "clap your hands if you want some more" or pose the question "what do you do when the music stops?") and the excessive repetition of the chorus. Ultimately, my review could have been longer if this emerging group had a touch more originality. Instead, even here it is material we've already heard, although of good quality, and to achieve the fame that might even be deserved, the Pipettes will need to work harder.

Nonetheless, an encouraging debut: I invite the site's reviewers to keep an eye on them.