If the dress fits, buy three...

I read an article the other day that described Radiohead (this is NOT another In Rainbows rant, relax) as belonging to the generation before us. Okay. This is the experimental noise group that went mainstream during the “generation” before ours. Godspeed our search for a tactile group with similar intentions and a debut inside this decade. Perhaps The Mars Volta, wherever they are…

Musical “generations” are not like time lapses in any other artistic medium. Changes in film styles tend to occur in ten or fifteen year lumps, determined largely by budgets and technological advances. Trends in canvas art can pick up in a matter of years but are also susceptible to derivative lulls drawn out by societal and regional changes (lowbrow is considered a very “west coast” form, having been born from underground commix and hot rod car-culture. Oh, how LA.)

Music is the only medium that
moves very, very quickly. So quickly that we are able to call out a difference between a still working band and another that have released material within the same decade. In music terms, a “generation” could be a mere five years.

So, this brings me to: what could three Brits in polka dots and Motown moves
offer me? A lot.
It’s a timing thing.


Exhibit A) Shirley Manson.
This fiery redhead pranced out from the hills of Scotland sometimes around the early 90’s, and the height of American grunge and a general “screw the industry” movement that was crossing borders all around. Immediately the femme was criticized greatly when she first started because for having big wheel Butch Vig backing her “mediocre” vocals and for the love of God, for being a female who didn’t play guitar. Shame on her for being a “performer” and not a “singer” (what does that even mean? I’ll save it for another day…)

News flash: we were not looking for Kathleen Hannah at this time in history. We were looking for a front woman. Period. Manson fit the bill and appropriately pissed off a lot of people when she superceded and proved amazing. Male musicians from the grunge spin specifically were banking on aestheticism to fail (God forbid someone with the slightest fashion sense step foot on a stage.) It was a backlash.


It was the beginning of something else. Not neccessirly something better or more original, just something else.

Watching the Pipettes at The Echoplex last Thursday was like sitting through the first Reagan conference and realizing holy (fill in the black), things are going to change.

Exhibit B) Nixon, while we’re on the topic of Presidents.
This is not to say that in five years all female musicians who are anything blonde with choreographed outfits. I mean to express that yes, there are moments in history when things rollover and change out, and that sometimes when we’re still enough, we can spot them before they happen.

Exhibit C) Back to Basics.
The girls’ shtick is one blonde, one brunette, one redhead, and short mod dresses equal cookie-cutter cute. Add some shaking moves to that mix and you’ve got a recipe for something. For what? Well, I attended the show to figure that out. Think of The Supreme, only British, and one blonde, one brunette, one redhead. Bloody hell.

In all fairness the very thought has been done before. The Pipettes were not there, let alone had never set out, to prove to you otherwise.

This is not a matter of originality. Their in sync hairstyles, giggles, harmonies, outfits and gesticulations made very sure you knew this. Something new is not what we, as god-loving listeners, need right now. We are not looking for Kathleen Hannah. Maybe we just crave a reprieve.

These ladies may not be solely responsible for ushering in the next movement, but they are definitely in the forefront. When we look back and wonder which bands were in the midst of something furious and novel at the time, do not be surprised if the Pipettes have managed their way on the list.