http://www.indiecult.com/2006-07/the-pipettes-we-are-the-pipettes An indie cult. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:53:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 http://www.indiecult.com/2006-07/the-pipettes-we-are-the-pipettes#comment-840 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:56:07 +0000 http://www.indiecult.com/2006-07/the-pipettes-we-are-the-pipettes#comment-840 [...] “I Like a Boy in Uniform,” the a-side to the Pipettes’ debut single (2005) resumes the pop deconstructionism of X Ray Spex, et alia, but with an insistent fidelity to aspects of that pop tradition. In its obvious reference to “I Love a Man in Uniform,” the Pipettes counter the girl-pop as materialistic consumption position of Gang of Four. More relevant, however, is the Pipettes’ take on the neo-post-punk of our time. Franz Ferdinand’s retreading of Gang of Four and Josef K may have been obvious to the initiated, but, to most of the O.C. viewers who discovered Franz Ferdinand in that iPod commercial, this music was completely new and, at the same time, a logical extension of the previous years’ fads, the retro electro of Fischerspooner and the disco-punk of “House of Jealous Lovers.” But this decade’s yearly succession of retro movements — various “old” schools (e.g. ‘88, ‘93) of hip-hop (Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples; 2000), garage rock (the Strokes, the White Stripes; 2001), electro (Fischerspooner, Peaches; 2002), disco-punk (the Rapture, LCD Soundsystem; 2003), and post-punk (2004) — led to last year’s year of the cheerleader. To be sure, the retro-ization of girl-group pop has its own tradition, from at least as early as the Go-Go’s, Josie Cotton, and Toni Basil in the 80’s and continuing through to the Aislers Set and Saturday Looks Good to Me, among many others, in this decade. Last year, we saw countless artists do the Toni Basil “Hey Mickey” retro cheerleader thing, from the ubiquitous Gwen Stefani, to the ultra-trendy Go! Team, to Architecture in Helsinki’s relatively overlooked but stunning “Wishbone.” “I Like a Boy in Uniform” rode this fad to the Pipettes’ current cult status to the point where their debut album, released earlier this week, was among the year’s most anticipated. [...] […] “I Like a Boy in Uniform,” the a-side to the Pipettes’ debut single (2005) resumes the pop deconstructionism of X Ray Spex, et alia, but with an insistent fidelity to aspects of that pop tradition. In its obvious reference to “I Love a Man in Uniform,” the Pipettes counter the girl-pop as materialistic consumption position of Gang of Four. More relevant, however, is the Pipettes’ take on the neo-post-punk of our time. Franz Ferdinand’s retreading of Gang of Four and Josef K may have been obvious to the initiated, but, to most of the O.C. viewers who discovered Franz Ferdinand in that iPod commercial, this music was completely new and, at the same time, a logical extension of the previous years’ fads, the retro electro of Fischerspooner and the disco-punk of “House of Jealous Lovers.” But this decade’s yearly succession of retro movements — various “old” schools (e.g. ‘88, ‘93) of hip-hop (Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples; 2000), garage rock (the Strokes, the White Stripes; 2001), electro (Fischerspooner, Peaches; 2002), disco-punk (the Rapture, LCD Soundsystem; 2003), and post-punk (2004) — led to last year’s year of the cheerleader. To be sure, the retro-ization of girl-group pop has its own tradition, from at least as early as the Go-Go’s, Josie Cotton, and Toni Basil in the 80’s and continuing through to the Aislers Set and Saturday Looks Good to Me, among many others, in this decade. Last year, we saw countless artists do the Toni Basil “Hey Mickey” retro cheerleader thing, from the ubiquitous Gwen Stefani, to the ultra-trendy Go! Team, to Architecture in Helsinki’s relatively overlooked but stunning “Wishbone.” “I Like a Boy in Uniform” rode this fad to the Pipettes’ current cult status to the point where their debut album, released earlier this week, was among the year’s most anticipated. […]

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