VARIOUS
ARTISTS 'BLUE SKIES UP: Welcome To The New Pop
Revolution'
(Dogbox Records, June 2006)
Do
you like pop? No is that? That’s because
you see pop as the processed rubbish that appeared
on the now deceased Top Of The Pops over the past
decade. I for one fit rather neatly into this
bracket, as the idea of sharing musical tastes
with a 12-year-old girl with aspirations for fags
and cheap booze perturbs me. Cue Dogbox with their
mission statement to ‘bring back pop’
with their latest compilation ‘Blue Skies
Up: Welcome to the New Pop Revolution’.
This
rather rosy/bold title from two ‘anonymous’
teenagers using the guise of Kenneth the Dogbox
pooch to rattle the cages of ‘mainstream’
pop the nation over perhaps might be a step too
far as the pop princesses mentioned above seem
to have a shit load more money than people with
more refined musical tastes (make your own conclusions
as to why that is) that this EP is aimed at.
Despite
this rather crushing fact, the music on here does
give one mild hope as to the future of the all-encompassing
genre as indie favourites including Luxembourg,
The Boyfriends and The Bridge Gang all feature
on the collection, alongside Boosh regulars Robots
in Disguise to add to the breadth and depth of
the Dogbox kennel. I apologise for the dog paraphernalia
reference (as he sips coffee from his snoopy mug)
but the first official outing from the label offers
glimpses into a future that are a little less
‘I hate pop music; it’s generic noise
for children who think ringtones make good songs’
to ‘Yes, I appreciate the subtle undertones
of a tragic, yet surprisingly upbeat take on post-structuralism
in a neo-national world.’
Admittedly,
I’d rather feed my hands to my senile dog
than see pop become the new grime in that sense,
but with such promising acts featuring on this
little gem in an otherwise shit-laden rough one
must take a note of optimism as the Crazy Frog
song ‘discreetly’ passes your correspondent’s
window.
By
Matt Hussey
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