Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Love Machine Love
We had very high hopes for this track after seeing the 10 second video preview on CD:UK on Saturday. Admittedly this wasn't anything to do with what little we could hear of the tune, but was down to the fact that Nicola was wearing the shortest dress out of the girls, which marks the first time since No Good Advice that she has been given the best outfit to wear. Anything which has any sort of Nicola-centric vibe to it must clearly be something earth-shatteringly fantastic and, we're quite satisfied to state, without over-exaggeration or hyperbole (NOTE: Writer prone to both over-exaggeration and hyperbole) that Girls Aloud's new single, Love Machine is nothing short of fucking amazing.
They really have done it again. Just when you think that that maybe they've exhausted the well of aceness where they consistently seem to draw their tunes, they pull out another bucket of fun and melody and quality pop goodness with an ease that makes you wonder why other bands seem to have such problems grabbing hold of the rope and tugging hard on it. Alas, the only thing that seems to come out when most groups tug hard is a load of toss that just needs to be mopped up with a Kleenex and thrown away.
Love Machine has a slight banjo twang to it which is reminiscent of Terrorvision's Fists of Fury, which is no bad thing in the slightest. Lyrically seems to be about the girls' overpowering hornyness and with GA you can actually believe it. When Blue, for example, sing about making love in the back of a car, you can't quite imagine them actually doing it as, for all their pretence at being hard boys and a bit laddish, you kinda get the impression that the nearest they've come to doing anything a bit naughty with a lady in a car is waiting too long at a parking meter. Except for Lee, of course, who still seems to be at the stage where he thinks girls smell and would probably fire his catapult at them if he wasn't so scared of his dad's slipper. Nicola and her Backing Band of Girls, however, actually look like they mean it. Not in a desperate, sluttish, slapperish way which is so beloved of Holly Valance, Jennifer Ellison and Jenny Frost, but in a normal healthy appetite kinda way. When they sing "I need a squeeze a day/Instead of this negligee/What will the neighbours say?", you know they're singing from experience, while the implication loaded "This time" line which follows that is excellence in itself.
While it is, admittedly, not as excitingly innovative as previous singles have been, it's still a record that stands head and shoulders above most of the records we've heard this year and makes us even more excited about the second album than is really healthy for an adult male. One day, perhaps all pop records will be this good. Although this will probably never happen while the Blazin' Squad are able to spawn.
They really have done it again. Just when you think that that maybe they've exhausted the well of aceness where they consistently seem to draw their tunes, they pull out another bucket of fun and melody and quality pop goodness with an ease that makes you wonder why other bands seem to have such problems grabbing hold of the rope and tugging hard on it. Alas, the only thing that seems to come out when most groups tug hard is a load of toss that just needs to be mopped up with a Kleenex and thrown away.
Love Machine has a slight banjo twang to it which is reminiscent of Terrorvision's Fists of Fury, which is no bad thing in the slightest. Lyrically seems to be about the girls' overpowering hornyness and with GA you can actually believe it. When Blue, for example, sing about making love in the back of a car, you can't quite imagine them actually doing it as, for all their pretence at being hard boys and a bit laddish, you kinda get the impression that the nearest they've come to doing anything a bit naughty with a lady in a car is waiting too long at a parking meter. Except for Lee, of course, who still seems to be at the stage where he thinks girls smell and would probably fire his catapult at them if he wasn't so scared of his dad's slipper. Nicola and her Backing Band of Girls, however, actually look like they mean it. Not in a desperate, sluttish, slapperish way which is so beloved of Holly Valance, Jennifer Ellison and Jenny Frost, but in a normal healthy appetite kinda way. When they sing "I need a squeeze a day/Instead of this negligee/What will the neighbours say?", you know they're singing from experience, while the implication loaded "This time" line which follows that is excellence in itself.
While it is, admittedly, not as excitingly innovative as previous singles have been, it's still a record that stands head and shoulders above most of the records we've heard this year and makes us even more excited about the second album than is really healthy for an adult male. One day, perhaps all pop records will be this good. Although this will probably never happen while the Blazin' Squad are able to spawn.
