Good pop music! The people demand good pop music! It’s nothing to be ashamed of, or embarrassed about. You can hear the strains of classic 90’s/noughties pop in some many forms these days, from the unpredictable strains of Everything Everything, to the R ‘n B seeped grooves of AlunaGeorge.
I once told an ex of my fondness for the original Sugababes, and it was something that caused much hilarity. As a blogger / music obsessed person, normally it’s my job to go around saying ridiculous things like: “Have you heard of that band from Slovakia, they all play harps, and the frontman is a goat.” So saying that you liked the Sugababes is something people like to latch on to. But it shouldn’t be! I interviewed Gunning For Tamar – a discordant post-rock band with strains of early Biffy Clyro back in January for another website, and lead singer Joe Wallis was open in describing his love for big pop songs. We all do. Let’s not pretend that we don’t.
So, early Sugababes. Overload. Soul Sound. And if we count the time when Siobhan had left (and made some good music on her own, how good is Overrated?) and Heidi joined – Freak Like Me! Shape! Round Round! Now it’s all a little out of control, with an entirely different threesome hiding under the umbrella of the old name. Like if Man United players were to grow a conscience, move to FC United, and then Man United sign up any man walking past capable of kicking a ball ten yards. A laboured analogy, yes, but it suits the laboured output that’s been shoved out of the Sugababes name as of late.
But due to the slightly peculiar state of play, the original three – Mutya, Keisha and Siobhan, are back together! And they’ve called themselves…..wait for it…..Hitler’s Tennis Coach. No, not really. They’ve just called themselves, themselves. Mutya Keisha Siobhan. Just to help avoid any confusion.
The point to this rambling diatribe is something that I saw on Twitter last week that got me excited about this whole shebang. I’ve rambled on about Dev Hynes on these pages before – thanks to his ridiculous career arc, and my fondness for Test Icicles and Blood Orange. But last week, I saw on Twitter that Dev Hynes has been working with the reformed threesome. This can only be good news. So high hopes all round. Now, we just have to wait, both for new music, and for me to be shunned by my too-cool-for-school music geekery chums. In the meantime, have a listen to Overload below (+ check out the MKS name change in the video title!) Screw that, here is the first piece of music to come from Dev Hynes + MKS, using Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’. How good is this?!
Horses Playing Harps 