Album Reviews |
Scouting For Girls
Scouting for Girls are a British band who were formed in 2005. They embrace pop music yet actually are a band, not a manufactured boy or girl group. The name of the band is a play on words based on the Scouts handbook, 'Scouting For Boys' and they play simple, unaffected pop / rock. They won't change your world, yet their melodic tunes with strong vocals should win at least a couple of hearts in these trying modern times. A few of the indie-bibles have already slated Scouting For Girls. Such hipper than thou publications could do well to realise that not only is there a market for music like this, but that bands like this are exactly what tired and disillusioned music fans appear to be after. Pop music played by musicians. It's a simple enough thing, you would have thought. You know, what were The Beatles if not a pop group? Labelling everything with a guitar as indie hasn't done us a huge amount of favours in 2007, after all. You know, it produced The View. So, in short, 'Scouting For Girls' are pop in the way Del Amitri were pop. It's unoffending driving music for the summer months. It isn't Mika or The Darkness or Maximo Park. In short, it fails completely to take itself seriously. True, the album lacks variety and it lacks depth. Ten songs of sunshine pop by a band without any rough edges is more than a lot of people can take, but then again, you do have choices. You could choose just to dip in and out as you please. An album with consistency is a rarity these days, even if in this case, the consistency comes at the price of any kind of variety at all.
Scouting For Girls
Albums
Scouting For Girls 7½ ( 2007 )
Keep On Walking / She's So Lovely / It's Not About You / Airplane Song / Heartbeat / Elvis Ain't Dead / I'm Not Over You / I Need A Holiday / Mountains Of Navaho / James Bond
'She's So Lovely' has been a hit in the UK and praises 30 something women, quite rightly. It's a song literally bursting at the seems with happiness and that alone may put off a lot of you. On the otherhand, it is perfectly possible to look forward to seeing 'Control', the Ian Curtis biopic and to enjoy the odd song by Scouting For Girls. Oh, I particularly enjoy the little harmony vocal part at the end of the tune. Then again, I would, wouldn't I? 'It's Not About You' continues the same way 'She's So Lovely' ended, with 'weeeewhooo' backing vocals and a strong chorus. I need a HOL A DAY goes 'I Need A Holiday', funnily enough. Lyrics that everybody will understand, although almost too simple. Yet, the piano melodies and the drums are enough for me. 'The Airplane Song' opens with a nice piano section and mark out Scouting For Girls as a potential support act for Keane. Such a thing isn't as horrible as it may sound, as the lyric soon tells the story of ice-cream and a girl leaving and weaves in harmonies and sunshine. Call Scouting For Girls a guilty pleasure, if you like. Ignore them if you like. Your life will continue much the same if you have the band in your life, or not, yet the album clearly has some merit.
Add A Comment? Readers Comments
Lisa Campbell Coventry
I am not sure if I entirely agree with you Mr Denning. I have listened to the debut album by Scouting for Girls and at the risk of sounding too serious, I do believe that this album is not just "sunshine pop" it is way more than that. When I listen to the songs of this album I find the lyrics to be very truthful of life and love, telling the stories by a man in his twenties that have had those experience. The lyrics are extremely pleasant and very refreshing. You are right, this album may not change lives or make major differences, but I do not think that the album was for this purpose. I feel that the songs on the album mentioned above are designed to make people feel that there are other people out in the world that feel the same way, and the simplicity of the lyrics are the reason why this album is so good. Okay, case in point, "I need a holiday" the moral screams out that this person was absolutely bored in their job, needed to be released but more importantly n! eeded a lost love to make their life more complete.
"She's so lovely" is a celebration of women over thirty - I agree but this undoubtly comes from the experience of the those feelings which men and women alive havelived through - don't you agree??? I culd go on, but the bottom line is that this is an album that deserves more than merit. I feel people should give it is mass respect!
this page last updated 13/10/08
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