While many bands speak of happy accidents that led to their formation, The Pipettes were meticulously put together through third party contacts back in 2003. Armed with a copy of The Manual and a scrupulously well researched record collection, The Pipettes went searching for world domination by returning pop music to the sheer joy of those early Motown and Phil Spector records. They were also fronted by three girls wearing polka dot dresses.
While it could be argued that their debut album was musical “painting by numbers” and owed too much to its influences to forge a unique identity, it’s impossible to deny the utter exuberance that was on offer.
However, failing to make an impact obviously took its toll on the group. Nearly four years on from their first release The Pipettes have incurred many line up changes, most drastically the departure of Rose and RiotBecki from the band’s female assault. Also, possibly disenchanted by the fact that one of their heroes shot a woman in the face and encouraged by legendary producer Martin Rushent, they have swapped innocent 1960’s girl pop for a denser, synth orientated aesthetic.
Reduced to just two front women (Gwenno and her newly recruited sister Ani), The Pipettes lose some of their visual power on stage. Where before the amateur bedroom dancing became an act of fun-loving defiance when performed as a trio, here there are moments it looks awkward. The new songs on offer tonight are also simply not up to scratch. For a band enamoured with the idea of writing the perfect pop single, The Pipettes have inexplicably come up with a batch of new songs that are not memorable.
This may simply be because the new material lacks the immediacy of their previous work. There’s definitely something more mature on offer here but as the set keeps hopping from unreleased new material to select debut cuts, the show fails to find a constant mood. As a result, early tracks such as 'Dirty Mind', with its delicately counterpointed backing vocals and the hand clapping frenzy of 'Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me' are a revelation, yet they make the rest of the set more arduous than it needs to be.
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Perhaps The Pipettes are still in transition. They perform a version of new single 'Our Love Was Saved By Spacemen' with a radically altered vocal line, suggesting even they aren’t sure what type of band they’re trying to be. With at least half a dozen great songs from their debut left to perform, the choice to encore with a solitary 'ABC' just as the crowd become energised is perverse. The Pipettes are clearly trying to break from their past, but it’s uncertain whether their fans will let them do this. And quite right too: Set closer ‘Pull Shapes’ stands head and shoulders above the pseudo-funky guitar work that characterises the new album. With its frantic drumming and pyrotechnic string arrangements it is immaculate pop. To be perfectly honest, if you can’t have a good time listening to this you deserve to have your ears confiscated.
It’s impossible to leave without one of The Pipettes’ early songs embedded deep in your brain and grinning from ear to ear. Yet strangely for a band whose DNA is so strongly connected to the past, this is the first time The Pipettes appear at risk of being overtaken by nostalgia.
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