So, The Sugababes are essentially the best pop group going at the moment. And I only just discovered that they have a whole bunch of B-Sides that I didn't even know about. Turns out the british versions of their albums routinely have an extra two or three songs that the rest of the world didn't get (unless your the USA in which case you didn't get their albums period because for some reason they don't like pop music to actually be good, who'dve thunk it?!) plus the non-album tracks from their singles. Such a great bunch of tracks that I've been missing for all these years.
Of the Three (their third album) B-sides "Colder in the Rain" is a doozy, I also really like "Buster" and "This Ain't A Party Thing". "Twisted" is alright, but not their best. But their worst is still a lot of groups' best. I didn't realise they did a remake of Seal's ace "Killer" for an Angels with Dirty Faces (their second album) B-side either. It doesn't match the original (only George Michael's "Killer/Papa was a Rolling Stone" gets close to matching it) but it's still great. Add that to the Taller in the More Ways B-sides I knew existed - their redo of The Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor" is fuckin unreal. I also like "Like the Weather" and "Future Shokk" is also pretty decent. Currently downloading "Just Don't Need This" and "No Man, No Cry" that were British tracks from Angels with Dirty Faces (their best album yet). I'm unsure about B-sides to their first album One Touch. I didn't like that album as much as their last three though, so that's fine.
Also, their collaboration with William Orbit (who famously reinvited Madonna for the seventh time) "Spiral" from his forthcoming album Hello Waveforms is ace.
It'll be interesting to see how the Sugababes go from now on. Mutya (in the centre in the pic up there) decided to leave the band to focus on her new child and they've brought in a new girl, Ammelle or something like that. Normally I'd be skeptical of something like this but they've done it before. When Siobhan left after One Touch the recruited Heidi Range from the much lesser girl group Atomic Kitten and that proved a smashing success.
They've rerecorded their Taller in More Ways album with her vocals on several of the old tracks as well as recorded two new ones, "Better" which, if indicative of anything, shows they're still great without Mutya. Love that almost-tribal ooh-ooh-aah-ooh. And then there's "Now You're Gone", which is yet another member of the fucking excellent sugababes ballad collection. Excellent stuff.
The second best single so far of the year? Is Sugababes' "Red Dress" ("Push the Button" was one of my Top 5 songs of 2005 too) - it isn't surprising that it was co-written by Xenomania who create brilliant pop songs. While Sugababes didn't rely on Xeno so much for this album, Xeno did help out Girls Aloud, the second best pop group going right now. And wow - does it show on their new album?
While Girls' last two albums were excellent pop albums that flew in the face of boring mediocre pop crap (much like the Sugababes have been doing since 2002), their latest album Chemistry is just unreal. Not only are they the hottest (looks wise, see above) group around, their single "Biology" is the single of the year of the moment. It is so great. It has a big booming pop beat alongside Xenomania's famous fucked up lyrics (listen to Sugababes' "Hole in the Head" from Three for a perfect example). "Biology" has such wicked lines as:
Why don't you call me/
Feed me/ Say you need me/
Without wicked games.
Come on and hold me/
Hurt me/ Say you love me/
And not my dirty brain.
The song sounds essentially like one big long bridge/chorus.
We give it up/
And then you take it away/
A girl's got to zip it up/
And get her head in the shade.
Baby, we give it up/
It's just a matter of time/
Before all the heavy stuff/
Comes back to bite your behind.
You can't respect my biology/
The way that we talk/
The way that we walk/
So easily caught.
Other kick-ass songs from their Chemistry album are "Models", "Wild Horses", "Racy Lacy" and on "Swinging London Town" they basically ditch any pop sensibility and just go diving into a kick-ass dance track that one of the more mainstream DJs should not feel embarassed about including in their playlist.
Love the lyrics to "Models"
Girls Girls Girls/
Girls Girls Girls/
He loves the models/
He hugs the models/
Go to lunch with models/
Cause he's trying every day.
He sleeps with models/
Dreams of models/
Wants to be a model/
Cause it's all he's got to say.
And that's all I have to say for now.
I will, however, leave you with a lyric from Girls Alouds' "Racey Lacey"
She's not to bright/
But she's educated in bed alright/
She makes seducation a work of art/
A PHD with her legs apart/
Countdown will continue in a bit.
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