Rosie and the Goldbug - Lover
Post categories: Reviews
| 11:21 UK time, Friday, 5 September 2008
Public Service Announcement here, people: you may remember that opera singers are notoriously fat. Huge, in fact. This is because, in the days before microphone loops and amplifiers, if you were going to fill a theatre you had to be pretty damned loud and you may have noticed that fat people tend to be louder than their skinnier counterparts.* Of course, it's not necessary to be fat to be able to sing but if you're going to belt out a bit of Bizet, it definitely helps. At the other end of the scale, of course, there are incredibly skinny people and, whilst again this isn't foolproof, it is generally true that there is a certain point of thinness past which a person's voice strangles and becomes extremely limited.
As you'll know, the current fashion amongst indie scenesters is to be terrifyingly skinny, which always seems like a bad idea for any singer, to me. Not to mention it really, really doesn't look good. Still, whatever, obviously they're enjoying themselves and it's probably no more unhealthy than fat opera singers, at the end of the day.
What this all has relevance to, though, is the singing on this song. I might be making suppositions here, cus Rosie Vanier does sound better on a few of their other songs and possibly she just had a really rotten cold on the day they recorded this or something but one way or another, she's managed to strangle her voice on this one.
Despite being, in principle and structure, an indie-rock belter, the song turns out rather weak and lost in the grand scheme of things. Rosie's voice sounds insufficient for the whole thing and it's only when some very obvious effects are placed on her that she achieves any volume or fullness at all.
Which, when they've mixed the instruments down enough to make her voice audible (not that the instruments were particularly interesting in the first place, I might add) leaves the glaring, awful lyrics on full display. This is definitely one of those Blondie rip-off female-fronted-indie bands and yet at least Blondie, in their worst lyrical moments, had the dignity to write something weird about a man from mars eating cars rather than terrible teenage poetry:
"It's a cliche that's all for me
but that's my androgyny"
No. That does not even make sense. That is not your androgyny, that is a poor rhyme into which the word 'androgyny' has been inserted to pretend edginess. Don't even get me started on how cliche (and yes I am loosely aware the first line may be a stab at self-consciousness regarding the rest of the song and that I meant to view it all slightly in the same light as 'Words' by Natasha Bedingfield but, well, no) the line "I love the way you move, want to get inside of you" is.
That's all in the first verse, you understand and remarkably, it actually gets more boring from there.
I don't necessarily want to be an absolute meanie about this song because the band are only a small act and might improve with more attention placed on them by getting into the chart but this is basically a poorly-produced, barely-written mess and does nothing but a disservice to the acts like Blondie that it's blatantly ripping off.
CD Released: September 8th
*NB: this is of course not foolproof, I am extremely loud myself and have a healthy BMI of 22.7 and of course there is a point of obesity where lung movement becomes restricted.
(Hazel Robinson)
Comment number 1.
At 5th Sep 2008, hackerjack wrote:Agreed.
Please come back Elastica, Sleeper and Garbage (yes I know they already have, sort of)!
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Comment number 2.
At 8th Sep 2008, Conhinha wrote:I remember Rosie and the Goldbug back when they were called Powderstrip (which i still prefer as a name), touring Cornwall and being the highlight of any bill, and i also remember when they were good. The best way to describe them then was if Kate Bush fronted Muse, which im sure you'll agree sounds quite tempting. It just really disappoints when people with real talent, and Rosie and the drummer really do, when they decide being famous is better than creating something good (take a bow Guillemots and Rufus Wainwright, or dont actually....). Rosie, the fleeting fame isn't as good as the lasting credibility!!!!
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Comment number 3.
At 8th Sep 2008, livingJonnyb wrote:I think you have totally missed the whole point of the song. The cool thing about it is that Rosie's vocal is laid back and she's not belting it out for the sake of it. It's not a Christina Aguilera song. You have obviously never seen them live because Rosie has an incredibly powerful voice when she wants to. Where are the obvious vocal effects? I can't hear them. I suggest you see them live before pretending you know everything about the band.
And if you are going to slag off the song's lyrics you should go back and listen again to actually get them right before posting them in a blog. Obviously they don't make sense.
Conhinha, have you been to any recent gigs? The band are so much better than their Powderstrip days. Could you ever see any of those old songs breaking through for the band, honestly? I think it's brilliant that things are going well for Rosie and the goldbug, they are a great band with great songs and deserve to be massive.
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Comment number 4.
At 8th Sep 2008, Conhinha wrote:Yes, i agree that they got better than when they were powderstip. they got brilliant, and i was a huge fan of them (peaches is an awesome drummer!), but the last time i saw them (which i have to say was at the beginning of the year, so not overly recent, no) rosie was becoming a parody and talking complete rubbish for effect, nobody was taking any notice, and it totally turned me off.
I think as performers and musicians they are excellent and rosie has an amazing voice with great range and power, which is why singing as she does on this song is so disappointing. Loved their older songs too, and i totally think they could break through with them, but its all about how its marketed anyway. They have compromised and dont work to their strengths anymore. Also, i know people who knew rosie and the people she worked with, and have seen them live many times, and she absolutely is desperate for fame, and i think she has moved to the middle ground for it and become average.
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Comment number 5.
At 8th Sep 2008, livingJonnyb wrote:Check out their war of the roses video. I don't see them as compromising, that is typical rosie and the goldbug. They could have put that song out in their early days and it would have fit their sound.
It's just growth and confidence.
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Comment number 6.
At 10th Sep 2008, hackerjack wrote:You have obviously never seen them live because Rosie has an incredibly powerful voice when she wants to. Where are the obvious vocal effects? I can't hear them. I suggest you see them live before pretending you know everything about the band.
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Errr, this is NOT a review of the band, live or not. It's a review of this one song, presented in it's recorded format. Nothng more nothing less.
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Comment number 7.
At 10th Sep 2008, spare00m wrote:I personally really like this song... seen them play it live, quite a few times now... its light harted and good fun. If you have actually seen them play live... you would know how the croud has a great reaction to this and their other songs. Their gigs are always good fun, which is what its all about, and I think it comes across in this song.
P.S.... Conhinha... The Drummer..... is called Plums... but obviously you knew that being a "huge fan" of their previous music. lol
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Comment number 8.
At 11th Sep 2008, Conhinha wrote:bugger. well, it was close. its all fruit. a "friend" of mine stalked her for a while too, you'd think i would remeber her name accurately. but we agree on the "awesome drummer" bit yeah?
oh, and its spelt "crowd", not "croud" ;)
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