SCOUTING FOR GIRLS – EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ON TV
What appears at first like a tongue-in-cheek dig at popular culture and hype-mongering, the title of this record by UK pop wunderkinds Scouting For Girls actually serves as a horribly appropriate platform from which their cheesy teen rock springs forth in blinding colour. There is nothing ironic in here – it’s music made for the kids, big glistening tunes, songs about mirrors on the wall and not being able to forget that Saturday night last year, all chiseled to commercial perfection with big, loud, British pop production. In a way these guys could be seen as channelling the same good time vibes of Supergrass; but with a regretful lack of killer melodies or that kind of jagged honesty and punk spirit that makes bands like the aforementioned really shine. It’s always hard to listen to an album like this with any great empathy if it’s not what you’re into – but cheesy ditties like Little Miss Naughty and Posh Girls just push the annoying button a bit too often. To their credit, these guys have youthful enthusiasm and genuine love for what they’re doing – it’s splashed right across the pages of their liner artwork in multiple measures. But I don’t think we’ll see Steven Spielberg approaching Scouting For Girls to produce a Monkees-style pop TV series; their formula just isn’t that strong.
*1/2
