Gwen Stefani ft. Eve – Rich Girl
On any other album this would be my favourite track but the impeccably high standard of LAMB means it has to make do with being one of my many favourites. It’s a great choice for the follow-up single to WYWF as it’s just as mad, busy and poptastic with the r’n’b flava which is (unfortunately in most cases) so helpful in gaining hit singles these days. The video begin with Gwen’s fave Japanese girls playing with Barbie dolls, then we see Gwen herself on a TV screen, followed by Eve (who has an eye patch and long hair/extensions) and the video’s pirate theme is revealed! Gwen dances with a sword and a parrot, on a table in a tavern and then swings on an anchor! She also has hair extensions which make her look oddly like Faye out of Steps.
97% Poptastic!
Aly & AJ – Do You Believe In Magic?
Aly & AJ are a teenage girl duo singing catchy country-pop, like a younger, poppier Dixie Chicks. They alternate between electric and normal (classical?) guitars. I can’t decide if they’re sweet or annoying but I think the one who is wearing trousers’ hair decides for me, they are annoying. And they snog a dog in the video (literally a puppy dog, not an ugly human). Thei singing expressions are also pretty tedious. Very Disney, Christian and parent-friendly, but I somehow don’t think many kids will be persuaded to buy this over Eminem, even if it will be less painful to their little uneducated ears and rhymes the words “groovy” and “movie”!
65% Poptastic!
Aslyn is a new red-head rock chick with a piano. There’s nothing special about her voice or this song, although I was interested to read that most of her album was made with Brit Guy Chambers. The video is set in what I guess is supposed to be a room in her house (with rather fetching lime green walls), then she and her band are transported magically to a recording studio. She’s perfectly likeable and I do love her name, but this is the least original song and video I’ve seen in a long time. However, I’m tempted to let her off after seeing the utterly acetastic graphics on her official site. Perhaps its a grower!
56% Poptastic!
B5 are best described as the black r’n’b version of generally forgotten 90s US boyband Take 5. They are, at a guess, between the ages of 12 and 15, and go by the names of Kelly, Carnell, Dustin, Bryan and Patrick. Most of them look like Jade from Damage, so they’ll have a good chance with Baby Spice’s future baby (if she has one). The song is so dull it’s almost impressive and it’s such an overdone format that they have absolutely no chance of success unless they get a really good song to release next. Ignore these and instead go for B3, the American-but-big-in-Germany Beegees covers band (no, that wasn’t just Boyzone). Now they are a true example of ace!
32% Poptastic!
Carbon Leaf – A Life Less Ordinary
This band sound like John Mayer merged with the Barenaked Ladies, but the lead singer is a bit of a buff hottie with a nice line in bounces to accompany the chorus and carries off his green t-shirt well, so I’ll try to like them. The video also involves a hay bale that mysteriously moves – a trick not seen since Alistair’s days in the Fame Academy house. The chorus is quite jaunty with the old lady-esque line, “it shook the bones of me!” and did I mention the singer is quite buff?
69% Poptastic!