Remix request

Hi there, we have just been "serviced" with the new single by Soundgirl - three singers called Olivia*, Nikki and Izzy who, it says here, were inspired by the likes of SWV, Salt-N-Pepa and other non-terrible girl bands.

Of course, no-one's ever going to declare "our main influences are B*witched and Hepburn", but at least we've established they're aiming for a 1990s urban pop-swing angle. Which places them nicely amidst that whole end-of-a-century throwback scene spearheaded by Yasmin and Katy B and Magnetic Man.

The new single, Don't Know Why, interpolates Carly Simon's Why, which means there's a writing credit for Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. It's unashamedly commercial, with a few neat lyrical flourishes from Miranda "Girls Aloud" Cooper: "You make my heart go boom, boom, boom / I'm making mixtapes in my room".

The video is shot in Barbados, so expect a breathtaking blue / green colour palette.

Soundgirl - Don't Know Why


Now, this isn't the first song to lift the hook from Carly Simon's 1982 hit. Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest revamped it into a Daisy Age love song back in 1990. Aside from the phrase, "I've got crazy prophylactics," it's a stone-cold classic.

Could someone with better DJ skills than me please create a Soundgirl / Quest mash-up? There's not a Top Shop in the world that wouldn't play it.

Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum (Why Remix)


* "Interesting" fact: Olivia's dad was in The Pasadenas

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Not rubbish girl band alert

Pop fans have to face it, with Nadine Coyle walking as far away from Girls Aloud as her spindly legs will take her, the mid-2000s' purple patch of amazing girl bands has disappeared over the horizon.

We are now doomed to weak facsimilies of The Sugababes (*cough* The Saturdays *cough*) while we wait for the cogs of the big music industry wheel to spin through the rock-indie-rap-R&B cycle before it's our turn again.

In the meantime, this is the best we'll get. New ladygroup SoundGirl may have a rubbish name, but they have a promising pedigree - their first single, I'm A Fool, has been written by Miranda 'Girls Aloud' Cooper - and there's something about their style and attitude that brings a young Neneh Cherry to mind.

Plus, they're not exactly difficult to look at.

Soundgirl - I'm A Fool

I'm not crazy about the song, I have to admit, but I'm led to believe it's just the opening salvo in a much bigger and more impressive campaign. Plus, it's not out til April, so there's plenty of time for it to grow on me.

They have some other songs available on their website that hint at a more R&B-led direction, in the style of SWV or Jade, which is probably a good place to look for inspiration, given radio's attitude to pure pop right now.

So, could SoundGirl be the new Destiny's Child or are they merely the 21st Century Mis-Teeq? It's quite literally up to you.

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