Category Archives: Mostly Pop

Mostly Pop – August 2011

Mostly Pop, Music

By Mr Moth

Britney Spears – I Wanna Go

Hurrah! This is possibly her best single since Piece of Me. It’s a blessed relief after the first two singles from Femme Fatale (neither of which have been even remotely interesting) with a catchy little whistled hook and massive, hands-in-the-air chorus which, all things being equal, would play brilliantly in a club. Plus, it seems to be about wanking. Winner.

But, well, the video. File this under WTF? I’m not even sure my descriptions would do it justice. It starts quite tamely – though “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you’re cool, fuck you” is pretty great – with Britney being Acceptably Wild, pinching a guy’s arse and flashing a cop (the subsequent frisking by whom is enjoyed to an unseemly degree by Ms Spears), etc. Then the paparazzi attack, and it all kicks off, a bit. Continue reading Mostly Pop – August 2011 →

Mostly Pop – June 2011

Mostly Pop, Music, , , , ,

by Mr Moth  

Nicola Roberts – Beat of my Drum

Nicola Roberts was always my favourite Girl Aloud, in spite of the repeated criticisms slung at her – she can’t dance! She doesn’t smile! She can’t sing! – so when I became aware that she was launching a solo career I can honestly say my heart sank a little bit. “Stick to your legacy, Nicola!” I thought. “Be remembered as the slightly awkward redhead  in the best pop band ever, the one with the flat but oddly appealing singing voice!” Mostly, though, I thought “Don’t release a bunch of anodyne shit like Cheryl and Nadine!”

Continue reading Mostly Pop – June 2011 →

Mostly Pop – May 2011

Mostly Pop, Music

by Mr Moth

"Hey, good looking"
"Chris Brown warms up for a date"

Charlie Simpson – Down Down Down


Oh, Charlie Simpson off of Busted. You broke my heart when you left Matt and James, you really did. Why did you split up the band, just when you were reaching your peak with “Thunderbirds Are Go!”, from Thunderbirds Official Soundtrack? To form Fightstar? Really? No, really?

Anyway, now you’ve put Fightstar on hiatus – literally tens of fanboys will no doubt be rending their clothes as we speak – to, in that dread phrase, “pursue solo projects”. And this is yours. Well done, you. You sure showed us you’re a true renaissance man. Why, this sounds like.. god, Charlie, it sounds like soulful Busted. You can’t help it. Bit of acoustic strumming. KNOT THOSE BROWS. OK, Busted after having listened to a bit of Noah and the Whale or whatever, but still. There’s something inherently naff about all the ex-Busted members – something which Matt Willis has worked to his advantage, but which works against Charlie every time he tries to be A Serious Artist.

Continue reading Mostly Pop – May 2011 →

Mostly Pop – April 2011

Mostly Pop, Music

by Mr Moth

Britney Spears – Till the World Ends

Britney! Yeah, Britney’s back again. Hurrah! There’s something fascinating about Britney Spears; the self-destructive bête noire of the glossies never seems to connect to the airbrushed dolly of the videos. She’s fat! She’s a terrible mother! She’s bald! She has terrible skin! She’s losing it! Yet put her on a set and she’s the most professional, presentable pop star on the planet. This disconnect keeps people coming back to her, whether she turns out something perfunctory (Circus) or revelatory (Blackout). How long this can last is uncertain, but here we are in 2011 still excited for her return so she’s doing something right.

Comeback single Hold It Against Me, sadly, fell into the perfunctory category for me, being immediately forgettable and weak in the chorus. Even the video, directed by Telephone and Smack My Bitch Up auteur Jonas Åkerlund, had little to say for it beyond high production values (woah, really?) and, again, the appearance of Robo-Britney where you might expect a broken husk. Second single Till The World Ends is slightly more interesting but, you know, only just. With a video which on first glance appears to be a low-rent Black Eyed Peas clip (I mean that to sting), but on repeated viewings shows itself to be even less than that, the song chugs along without ever becoming something more than album filler. A wordless chant of a chorus lifts it slightly out of the mire; it’s not enough. Britney needs to get way crazier to come back with something this ordinary.

Continue reading Mostly Pop – April 2011 →