The Veronicas - 'Untouched'
Y'know that fine line between clever and stupid that Spinal Tap talked about? Turns out not to be there after all, and here's the proof. There is literally nothing bad you can say about a song which starts with a verse full of onomatopoeia and gibberish - "I go 'ooh ooh', you go 'ah ah', alalala alalala" - then takes a detour through some musical stammering, not unlike the musical stammering in 'Womanizer', but more relentless and challenging to keep up with, and then finishes with "right now you're the only thing that's making sense to me".
(. Hot poshos know how to get down.)
Especially not a song which brings together the generations like this one does. Your mum will love the rising synth bit which reminds her of a misspent youth watching Flashdance in 'ironic' leg-warmers and dreaming of a career in welding.
Meanwhile, your dad will appreciate the string stabs at the beginning, which will remind him of swaggering down the street in a parka, with the Verve on his Walkman. Elder brother is gonna enjoy the punkish guitar grind, and of course, as the Veronicas play silly old pop music, he's going to get a kick out of complaining that's it's just a load of manufactured rubbish. Boys like that kinda thing.
Meanwhile, younger sis, having discovered there's a JoBro link, is dancing around the room like someone let her into the sweetie cupboard, and yelling the "alalala alalala" bit over and over again, even though there is no music playing, the song stopped a while ago. You're going to have to grit your teeth over that one.
There's still plenty in there for you to get excited about, even if none of the above works. There's the chorus, which is total '80s dramapop heaven, treading a fine line between Lady GaGa raunch and Natasha Bedingfield wholesome. There's the ravey bits, which seem to double the (already very brisk) tempo and generally act as a roof-raiser.
And did I mention the genius of the first verse? I did? OK, well we're probably done here.
Go! Listen! Enjoy!
Download: Out now
CD Released: May 25th
´óÏó´«Ã½ Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
"The Veronicas are the best pop group you've never heard."
"I'm thinking it's a younger version of CSS-meets-Pussycat Dolls."
"A peppy brew filled with über dramatic strings, hook-laden synths and a buzzing bassline."
Comment number 1.
At 20th May 2009, spirit wrote:As you know I have liked this for ages... love the song... great ideas , good arrangement , fun production, loads of hooks, good use of strings , chorus as catchy as swine flu.........
The album " Hook me up " is out on June 8th....
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 20th May 2009, pinkparadox wrote:I swear I loved this one in 2008...
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 21st May 2009, spirit wrote:Little Boots review.. on the horizon....
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 21st May 2009, fluffyfinches wrote:as catchy as swine flu? hmm.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 21st May 2009, Cloud9stryder wrote:I love this tune....This song came out in like 2007 but never really got noticed. Glad it's making a come back. Plus it's on FIFA 09 as a backing tack :)
Good Luck Veronica's
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 22nd May 2009, froggy_22 wrote:FIFA!! lol, heard this ages ago, surprised it took them so long to release it over here, they released it in US last year and i think back in 2007 for australia, so in retrospect its quite an old song now but it hasnt aged
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 22nd May 2009, NOSH33N_x wrote:i like this song :) x
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)
Comment number 8.
At 24th May 2009, BloggingLiam wrote:Oh this is a pleasent surprise. Me likes.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)
Comment number 9.
At 28th May 2009, Sam wrote:Great song .. cant believe its taken so long to get over here!... hope it does well in the charts
Complain about this comment (Comment number 9)
Comment number 10.
At 28th May 2009, catman231 wrote:In the apparent temporary absence of Spiritwarrior, and in a revision-induced state of boredom, I will produce a comment that represents Spirit and what he would say if he was here now:
"This is a really special song, by a special band
[Insert multiple spaces here]
Undoubtedly top ten material, is going to do really well on the downloads....
Will be one of the soundtracks of the summer"
'Chorus as catchy as swine flu'.. sounds like one of Siralans blatantly scripted lines in the Apprentice.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 10)
Comment number 11.
At 29th May 2009, spirit wrote:Oh Mr Cat... you are naughty.....
About a month ago.... somewhere on this blog I predicted ( oh not those blinkin predictions !! puh.....leaze ! ) that this song would be a Top 20 hit... because it sounds so huge !!!
Unfortunately, I cannot find it amongst my cattery of messages ( oh that's handy ! ) but I assure you it is true !
Still dying to know your ten favourite Radiohead songs......
Complain about this comment (Comment number 11)
Comment number 12.
At 31st May 2009, BLING-BWOY wrote:A bit 1980s in sound. It is about a long distance love affair and the frustration that they bring.
I think it will break the top 40 in the UK as it did in their native Australia and the US.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 12)
Comment number 13.
At 31st May 2009, spirit wrote:The Veronicas are at number 8 !
Knew this was as catchy as swine flu !
Complain about this comment (Comment number 13)
Comment number 14.
At 3rd Jun 2009, se7enfromheaven wrote:great song, classic review, the epitome of Fraserity
thanks, mr McA!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 14)
Comment number 15.
At 3rd Jun 2009, Fraser McAlpine - wrote:No, thank YOU *salutes*
Complain about this comment (Comment number 15)
Comment number 16.
At 3rd Jun 2009, BloggingLiam wrote:Bumped this up to a 5 star, I cant stop platying it. Catchiest thing since poker face and 10000x better.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 16)