The Pipettes at The Lexington

I’ll admit that my music collection tends to be dominated by the dark and twisty or beats so dirty you need to shower afterwards so very rarely would you catch me listening to girl groups. Apparently, the reason for this is because, as I have been told on several occasions, I do not allow enough joy in my life. Unfortunately, I feel it is partially this reason that would explain my disaffected reaction to The Pipettes at their recent gig at The Lexington.

My knowledge of The Pipettes didn’t extend far from university memories of indie clubs so grimy your feet stick to the ground invoked by Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me, their 2006 hit single after which, despite a successful debut album, the band soon fell into relative obscurity. Or rather broke up. But with a new line-up and a new album created under the watchful eye of Martin Rushent, the former producer of The Human League, Stranglers and Buzzcocks, I was intrigued to hear if such changes might have taken their music in another direction.

Launching their new single, Call Me from their upcoming new album Earth vs The Pipettes, The Pipettes enthusiastically entertained the crowd with their Welsh-tinged stage chat which, while at times slightly awkward, particularly when addressing their numerous line-up changes, showed them as confident young ladies amidst a crowd who were all eager to hear their new set.

Donned in The Pips characteristic matching outfits, sisters Gwenno and Ani Saunders embarked upon their choreographed set which, while certainly in keeping with their girl group sympathies, for me took away from the necessary spontaneity of live music. While it is an easy analogy to use, their sound is as bubblegum as you can get with backing vocals, harmonies, synthesisers and dance routines that could only have been choreographed by an air hostess.

Pull Shapes, with its inescapably catchy chorus, instead of making me want to dance – ‘pull shapes’ if you will – made me loathe myself at the realisation that my foot was indeed rhythmically tapping. Our Love Was Saved By A Spaceman saw a more electronic influence but still demonstrated how a song title can also act as a one-phrase summary of any narrative within a song. Therefore I will spare the too-easy review of Stop The Music.

The Pipettes have long been marketed as a throwback to the Sixties and I am shameless fan of all Sixties paraphernalia particularly in my penchant for vintage mini dresses and Northern Soul girl groups and so one would think I would enjoy a renaissance of these things in The Pipettes. Sadly, despite their enthusiasm and coordination – both in choreography and outfits – my Sixties sympathies did not translate to what I saw on stage. Instead, I spent a large portion of the gig trying to discern which part Martin Rushent contributed to with the only resulting conclusion being that it must be the matching Steve Diggle polka dot shirts the all-male backing band, known as The Cassettes, were sporting.

While my aforementioned distaste of joy undoubtedly will have coloured my Pipettes experience, vocally the girls do offer delightful harmonies and they must be commended on their enthusiasm but until I can welcome the wholesome goodness of the girl band into my life I’m afraid The Pipettes will be pipped to the post by someone whose moodiest moments aren’t songs about dead hamsters…

The Pipettes performed on Monday 19 July at:

The Lexington
96-98 Pentonville Road
King’s Cross
N1 9JB

Tel: 020 7837 5371