The Pipettes @ Luna Lounge: The Prettiest Girls You've Ever Met

Tonight, after three years on the U.K. music scene and about a year and half on my radar, Gwen, Becki and Rosay made their U.S. debut to a sold out room in Brooklyn. The new British Invasion is here, and it's wearing polka dot dresses, big red belts, high heels and a nose ring.

The show didn't disappoint me at all. It was seriously fun, with everyone feeling the retro vibe and dancing their little shoes off. That's right, dancing in Brooklyn to music that's not dance rock oriented. It can happen.

For those who've been spinning the import of We Are The Pipettes, the girls played some new songs alongside their album cuts.

Setlist:

• Intro
• Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
• Baby Don't Leave Me
• Why Did You Stay?
• Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)
• It Hurts to See You Dance So Well
• Your Love For Me (* only played once before live)
• Guess Who Ran Away With The Milkman?
• Really That Bad
• Tell Me What You Want
• I Love You
• One Night Stand
• Judy
• Dirty Mind
• Pull Shapes
• Encore: ABC
• We Are The Pipettes

I had the mentality going in that I was determined to have a good time and dance and scream like there's no tomorrow. New York crowds can be a fickle, unpredictable bunch. We have perfect the art of folding our arms and nodding our heads at shows. Plus, this being a U.S. debut, it was a possibility that lot of industry people would be there, who are prone to suck the life out of room.

There was none of that, people all around me had showed much love to the group and danced with their fellow woman and man. That's awesome, because if anything, The Pipettes are a good time band to let yourself go.

There's a lot of reasons why I put the Pipettes on my Top 5 of U.K. bands to watch. I think there's no one else doing what their doing and in the style their doing it in. You don't need to have a music blog to figure out where the ladies are coming from. It goes well beyond retro-60s girl group with three hot chicks playing up the genre. You can go to any theme park like Disney World, Universal or Six Flags to see that. The Pipettes songs are about the modern girl with guy problems. The added wink are sly double entrendas. Are they blatant or is it just that I have a dirty mind? "Tell me what you want" or "He don't know about XTC," You can put two and two together if you'd like.

I've written about this previously with other bands. I haven't figure a name or category for it, but bands like The Boy Least Likely To, The Brunettes, The Grates, The Chalets and Psapp play around with 50s and 60s and children's music to give a view of modern life. The interesting thing about all these bands are that they're not American. When I first got wind of The Pipettes in 2005, it was because their association with the Go! Team and ultra-cool indie label Memphis Industries. If you didn't know, you would have thought with their sound, they would be American. Far from it. The Pipettes' sound is distinctly American borrowing from the Brill Building sound and adding that slight riotgirl edge.

Getting back to the show, the group is backed by a band of boys wearing college sweaters. If you know local act, The Dansettes, they have the same sort of set-up and delivery, with each girl getting a chance on vocals. Although, the Dans' music is more late-60s funk and soul, while the Pipettes are early 60s.

I had only saw the ladies briefly in the room before the show, so it wasn't until they took the stage that I saw them in all their glory. When the came out in their skirts with a lot of leg showing all smiling brightly, I was like, "Ummmm, dahhhhh, ummmm, urrrrrr, HELLOOOOO LADIES!!!!!" I'm standing their right in front, trying to not be all googly eyed when Gwen stares at me and sings "Why Did You Stay?" She then points to me and the only thing I could do without making a scene, is play a long. So I point to myself and mouthed, "Who me?" My crew had a good laugh at my little moment. What can I say? A player has got to play.

Becki, Gwen and Rosay looked like they were having as much fun as we were. If you get confused with who's who, they have their names on their necklaces to help you out. They sort of have a loose choreography to their set, which allows them to play around with their girl group image. Plus, I don't think the Shangri-La's ever such "fuck" and "asshole" when they played live.

In any event, the whole show is a good dance party. By the end, I looked around during "Pull Shapes" and the front part of the crowd was all doing their retro dance moves. That was cool to see the love for a band making their long-awaited U.S. debut. So if you're going tomorrow or Tuesday, don't just stand back with your arms fold, let loose a little and be prepared to clap your hands.

As for their a stateside release and extensive U.S., nothing set in stone but a May or June release in the album from Cherry Tree/Interscope is likely. Also, I was asking around about Tuesday if Amy Winehouse is going to show up and so far it's still on. Whatever happens, it's going to be wild.

Comments

these arent pretty girls.

[Brinnah]

talk in this im tired