Girl power’s back
One singer says the lyrics are honest and empowering.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Girl power is back, but it’s not what you think.
Sure, the Spice Girls are about to tour again, but what the music world really wants is another U.K. act, The Pipettes. Lead by three polka-dot-outfit wearing female singers — RiotBecki, Rosay, and Gwenno — this creative act combines a Phil Spector-inspired ’60s sound with a new wave sensibility and new millennium pop vibe.
After first garnering positive press attention earlier this year with a mini-American tour, the act’s debut effort, “We Are The Pipettes,” is finally being released stateside (Oct. 2). Considering the recent trend of not only female acts getting attention but retro-sounding female acts (Amy Winehouse, hello!) to boot, the timing couldn’t be better for the fun band.
“Yeah, I think there’s been a lot more of us kind of retro acts, like Amy Winehouse,” said Rebecca “RiotBecki” Stephens, calling from her Brighton, England, home. “A lot of women from Britain are doing quite well in America, so in that respect, it kind of seems like it’s the perfect time, which is pretty cool.”
But why are female pop bands becoming fashionable again? Stephens believes the cyclical nature of music is responsible, citing for the past decade “indie guitar boys” have dominated U.K. music.
“It’s a bit refreshing to have something with a bit more soul and a bit more intrigue,” Stephens said.
Inspiration
Inspired by the ’90s Riot Grrrl scene of Sleater Kinney and others, Stephens said the American genre which empowered females can be found all over “We Are The Pipettes.”
For example, the raucous “One Night Stand” features lyrics such as “I left you alone/At four in the morning/Not a stitch to wear/Because you ignored my warning,” while the midtempo “Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me” takes no prisoners with “Can’t you see we’re through/Boy get out of my face!.
So are the lyrics cruel or just honest?
“Honest, I think,” Stephens laughed. “I wouldn’t say any of our lyrics were cruel. I’d say they were tongue-in-cheek and need to be taken with a pinch of salt. But I’d say too, they were empowering to both men and women.”
What remains to be seen is whether The Pipettes, which performs Thursday at the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland and Oct. 13 at the Diesel Club Lounge in Pittsburgh, can overcome its novelty feel as just a group aping the sounds of The Ronettes, The Shirelles and The Supremes.
“I don’t know about overcoming anything,” Stephens said. “I think a lot of people have us pigeonholed in a certain way, and I don’t think we’re necessarily how people would say we’re pigeonholed. The only place to overcome anything is going to be with any material we write in the future. So [that will be] with any second album that we do and how we want to progress.
“I don’t necessarily see us as a novelty band, but at the same time, there is nothing wrong with novelty bands. There have been a lot of novelty bands that have been hugely successful.”
Stephens is right: The Spice Girls are restarting the money train this year. Time will tell if The Pipettes enjoy more than a one-night stand with American audiences.