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for me they've just lost the catchy aspect that made them bearable (at first) and now they're just boring. oh and one guy commented on the youtube video of the track saying that these guys were the best thing to come out of the uk 'after all this time'. -sigh-

Well I quite like it. It's a fresh, unexpected sound with a slight maturity that I was quite impressed with. So four stars. So there.

Okay, let's not beat about the bush. Scouting For Girls are hardly an influential band are they?
Their songs were delightful little three-minute pop-ditties back in the days of 'She's So Lovely' and 'It's Not About You'. But, and this is a big but... the kind of but that detracts from the all-important listen-factor. ALL their songs sounded THE SAME.

I mean, it's not a good choice to have every song from your debut album sounding similar; because you're as fairly new band with good but similar sounding songs, the public is going to wonder which song they're listening to at some state.

This was a problem.

But now it isn't. The songs have a much less bubble-gum pop sound to them and sound all grown up and growly (see the very last lines), with a hint of whiney falsetto coming from Roy's unmistakeable voice, especially noticeable in the bridge.

I quite like this song, I'd imagine many other would as well. No it's not a milestone covered but if the music world has a place for the likes of Taio Cruz, Justin Bieber, will.i.am, N-Dubz, Jay-Sean etc... I think you'd have to be too pretentious to not like this song.

4 stars. (:

Sorry to break up the party but I don't like it. What Scouting For Girls had going for them before was that they were fun and didn't seem to be taking themselves seriously in anyway. I'm not saying that they're taking themselves seriously now but the new 'mature' doesn't work for them, the song ends up feeling lifeless and becomes dull once you realise that they're still using all the same tricks.
2 STARS

'It's not about you' is still an absolutely grade A, fantastic, pop song. It didn't get half as much attention as their next songs, 'She's so Lovely', 'Elvis..' and 'Heartbeat' but I' argue it's much better than any of them.

Im do like SFG, in a fun not serious, attention grabbing, catchy way. The tracks I mention above are all good, 'It's not about you' abd 'Heartbeat' in particular I guess.

This? Still as catchy, in fact I've been humming it all day, even before I read this. Any good? Nah. 3 stars, just pretty generic and catchy.

SFG influential? Again nah.

But nothing in the review or what I've just written isn't known to most people with a half serious interest in the charts! Apart from maybe my argument 'It's not about you' is an amazing song. Because I guess most people won't agree!!

It's not about You was an absolutely fantastic debut single .

The biggest quality this band have going for them , is that ALL their singles have at least 5 huge hooks in them , and this has served to galvanise immense interest in the band from lots of listeners .

Roy Stride live , is a very professional , charismatic lead singer , who had the crowd , entranced from the word go , when I saw them live .

She's so Lovely , despite being extremely annoying to many , had so many hooks that grabbed people in , and became the song that really put them in the limelight .

2 further top 10 singles followed , that again were brimming with hooks , and this culminated in their debut album going double platinum .

Scouting For Girls are certainly a "marmite " band , but in my view they do what they do extremely well , and you get more hooks per song than many other bands , so that's value for money.

"This Ain't A Love Song " will be another top 20 hit , is again well crafted , has more hooks than a your local dry cleaners , but may lack an edge and dose of bad attitude that a lot of rock fans like .

However , one must remember there is a big market for people who like songs they can singalong to. (Take That have sold over 5 million albums in UK in the last few years !) Some people like bands you could take home to meet your Mum.
Roy and the boys are gentlemen, who would probably not throw your Mum's TV out of the window ,unlike other bands , you could think of!!

And on that note , the album EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ON TV is out on April 12th .

Yeah , just heard the song again , and yes , I like it more ,each time I hear it . It's a great comeback single , that loads of their fans and casual listeners will like .
And yes , there are are at least 8 catchy hooks in this song .
A very professional return , I bet the record company love it !

Spirit, I know hooks are important in a commercial pop song but shouldn't a little originality be required as well.

It's nice , but not paramount . This Ain't A Love Song is not original , but it does what it does , extremely well , and will appeal to many people.
I understand SFG polarize opinion , but it's an extremely well crafted and well produced song .
It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel .

Give spirit a cigar. Really hit the nail on the head with this band, they may not be influential and loved by all, but they do do their jobs far better than most UK bands.
I'm sorry to say... where did The Killers go with 'Day & Age'? First single 'Human' - #3 in the charts, then the criminally underappreciated 'Spaceman' left them clinging on only just at #40. Then the last two singles charted somewhere between #80-#150, so your could say SFG have consistency, which is good.

You've just opened a can of worms there Oddone. 'Spaceman' was a poor single choice in my opinion! So was 'Day and Age' which, off the top of my head, was the third single choice. See the review on 'Dustland Fairytale' for the massive debate that ensued about The Killers there!

Wikipedia says the album 'Day and age' has sold 1,200,000+ copies. (Sam's town a similar ammount and 'Hot Fuss' 1,800,000+).

I cant find the numbers for SFG's album. Bet it doesn't touch any of them.

Interestingly SFG released 7 (!!!) singles from their debut album. The later ones, including the AWFUL one about James Bond did not chart so well!

Yeah , the James Bond one was a very ham fisted effort , that in my opinion had more cheese than a ploughman's sandwich !

Ham n cheese normally go together well , but not on this occasion .

The SFG album has sold approx 750,000 copies in the UK, the last time I looked , which is a fantastic return for a debut album.

The Killers singles from Day and Age were :
Human
Spaceman
The World We Live In ( which contains the phrase Day and Age )
And the rather sweepingly epic A Dustland Fairytale which told the story of Brandon's parents meeting romantically in the 60's .
(This song has taken an even deeper meaning to Brandon and many Killer's fans as his Mother sadly passed away a few weeks ago , and in my mind , the song has been elevated to even greater heights , as the intense brooding power that it possessed , has been multiplied , due to these sad events . )

Really Liam? I thought 'Spaceman' was really very good. But I thought the final two singles 'The World We Live In' and 'A Dustland Fairytale' were awful. This is just my opinion though, don't bite me. ;)

Anyhoo, this song is yummy, and should chart nicely too. I figure #8 peak position. (wahey, look at me trying my hand at spirit's psychic stuff ;))

Yeah , you go for it Odd One .

Definitely top 20 , that's me covering myself , but it is well capable of going higher .

Oddone thats two posts I've seen from you with outrageous claims now!

Dustland Fairytale a awful?!?! Scroll back a year or so to the review . . .it's one of The Killer's best tracks ever. And Im a MASSIVE fan of all 3 albums. It's one of the highlights of their live set and should have been the second single.

'Human' is a great track and a good first single though.

Yeah Oddone , I encourage you to go back and listen to A Dustland Fairytale again , bearing in mind , Brandon is singing from the heart about his parents meeting in the 60's .Do give the song a second chance .

I did , and the effort was worth it .

Check You Tube out for The Killers performing it on David Letterman , it brought a tear to my eye , and is an absolute masterclass in performing a moving song backed by a sympathetic orchestra , that helps to elevate the song to an even more wonderful place .

Brilliant !

Lol, I hate it when I get proven wrong.
I just re-listened to 'A Dustland Fairytale' and it's not brilliant. It's like Coldplay's 'Strawberry Swing' (best song on 'Viva la Vida or Death and All His Freinds' in my opinion) but with guitars; much better than my first impressions. I'd give if four stars now, but not five.

EDIT: "I just re-listened to 'A Dustland Fairytale' and it's brilliant"

... is what I should've said. (:

That's MORE like it buddy !

Check out the version on David Letterman for even more pleasure .

Going back to the review , it made me think of acts that generally use jolly sounding instrumentation , while lyrically and vocally the singer sings tales of sadness, pain and woe .

Generalising I know , but I can think of songs by :

THE SMITHS - (Johnny's jangly, happy , guitar , Morissey's suffering )
E.G Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now . The Boy With The Thorn In His Side .


THE CURE - Happy keyboard and guitar motifs , Robert Smith's obsession with death.
E,G Close to me , Just Like Heaven , Lullaby

EMINEM - Upbeat fairground sounds , while Marshall spits out poison.
e.g We Made You , The Real Slim Shady , Without ME )

Interesting .

Oasis have done it a bit. On the sleevenotes to The Masterplan, there's a bit about Fade Away doing it, and refers to it as "a classic Buzzcocks trick", so I guess they're known for it too.

Oh, and I think this is a cut above Scouting For Girls' usual pap, but still nothing memorable. Three stars if I had to rate it.

SFG again! Yeah! (I can't afford a sarcasm symbol). The title is a bit offputting, falling somewhere between PIL and Bon Jovi in my head. At least PIL didn't use contractions.

Still, the opening is a bit bombastic, and the strings, who are they kidding? Cheeky popsters all the way, they are, not "arrangers", still, nice chorus,typical SFG break down re."bloody big mess inside", good chorus. Too much chorus really, I got bored about two minutes in, but three stars for effort!

At 20, Gilbert O'Sullivan "Alone Again Naturally" certainly doesn't sound as dark as the lyrics actually are if you listen to them.

While we're living, the dreams we have as children fade away...

@ 20,

It's a shame some people don't realise that technique is becoming one of Mika's most recognisable traits...

Look at 'We Are Golden'...

It takes the concept of growing up and how teenage years are some of the most lonely and stressful of most peoples' lives. ("Now I'm sitting alone, and I'm looking for help. Left here on my own, I'm gunna hurt myself") Whilst the mournfulness doesn't come out in his voice in this song (see "Dr. John") he shows it in his lyrical depth, which people seem to overlook because of the marmite melody.
It's about being hated but not caring because you can just go home and have a good old hairbrush moment... now come ON, you CANNOT say you've never had one of those. Seriously, just no.

Hairbrush moments... nope, not had any of them... (except the one I stole from Little Boots dressing room, of course. I don't think she'd want it back now... and my cloning experiment is well begun.)

Shame it's awful though, eh OddOne?

Hairbrush moments? Glee is like a giant one.

With the greatest possible respect to anyone present who represents an exception to this, and no value judgement being made on my part whatsoever (hopefully that's enough qualification), I think that straight guys are in general less prone to good old hairbrush moments.

Singing along to songs they love - yes.

Singing/miming into a hairbrush in front of the mirror - notsomuch.

I own a mirror but not a hairbrush. I sing along to songs. Not in front of the mirror though. Am I confused? :(

Yeah Liam, 'We Are Golden' is REALLY grating after about the first listen, but it's pleasing to hear from time to time.

But hairbrush moments ARE AMAZING. Nuff sed bruvvah.

@ 29. I don't mean fully grown up people. I mean like 7 years to 11 years-ish old. And I'm straight. Was then too.

Expect to see this in the top 10 next Sunday, top 20 doesn't seem high enough for a song with this many hooks.

P.S: I still don't like it though

Yeah , anyone who knows music , can hear that this is gonna be a big hit .
Blanket radio play , a song with a plethora of hooks , this is a commercial monster .
I said , last week that this fine lead single , would chart well .
Now I am saying a definite top 10 , and it is possibly gonna knock on the door of the top 5 and beg to be let in . . .

Yes but She's So Lovely was a great lead single too and look at all the stinkers that followed that. I like This Ain't A Love Song but I don't have much hope for the follow-ups.

'It's Not About You' was their debut wasn't it? Oh my days I must check my facts, but the point is 'Heartbeat' was v good, and so was 'Elvis Ain't Dead'

Nope, the first single was She's So Lovely. It's Not About You was their fourth single but I can see how you can get confused. Nah I didn't think much of Elvis Ain't Dead and I thought Heartbeat was a big pile of turd! Can't understand how it cracked the Top 10.

Actually, 'It's Not About You' was their lead. It was their first song to get Radio play. Scott mIlls made it his record of the week. It just had a limited release, so didn't chart well.

Also still their best track, I don't ever see that changing.

I checked Wiki, the above post is correct. I should have mentioned the fact that they did re-release it as a single after others.

Anyone who thought this weeks chart was a bit boring don't worry because we've got an interesting week ahead of us.

The Chart Blog Chart Report*
Scouting For Girls may be not just knocking on the door of the top 5 they could have a no.1 on their hands, that's if the Itunes Charts is anything to go by.

Also in other news christian rock band *shudder* Delirious? are looking set to gate crash this weeks top 20 thanks to a facebook campaign to get their song History Makers in the charts for Easter - personally I prefer Facebook when it's getting RATM to christmas no.1 because that's much more entertaining.

And finally expect another top 10 single for Plan B with She Said and a possible climb for Usher ft. Will.i.am with OMG.

*got a nice ring to it, doesn't it

Yeah , my comments at 6 look set to be justified .

This will certainly go top 3 , and if it can outsell GaGa , IT WILL BE number 1 !

Throw loads of memorable hooks into a lead single , get blanket radio and TV play , because of said hooks , and you are looking at a recipe for success .

The boys will be promoting the song all week .
Good luck .

Nah, I'm sorry but I don't see this being #1, I think #5 at a push, it is possible by then that GaGa won't be #1 so what could it be? Now I think about it, there isn't much more chart rivalry in terms of single releases except for Plan B, Usher ft. will.i.am, and Alex Gardner.

As sad as it seems I don't see Plan B making #1 :'(
Nor do I see Usher making it, maybe just cracking the Top 10.
And as for Alex Gardner, Top 20 probably.

Maybe GaGa will be #1 for a third week? Because there doesn't seem to be anything new and amazing; the Top 10 hasn't really changed much over the last two weeks... ish.

Mind you, if spirit's right and promotion shoves this single upchart, it could probably crack the Top 3.

Spirit will be right, and you know it , OddOne :)

Relax , don't fight it . lol

Boringly I'm with Spirit on this one. Physical release today too.

Hold the front page ! Is the magnificent Liam , actually agreeing with me ?

As Kylie sang in the chorus of her top 5 hit :

" WOW , WOW , WOW , WOW ! "

It happens on the odd occasion :p

To be fair I think we both agree what makes a commercial success, what makes a good song and what we both like often overlaps well... I just don't always agree with predictions ;)

I don't think I've ever been so happy to be proven wrong, becasue if the midweeks are anything to go by I hold my hands up right now and own up to being a dang fool

Midweeks as of Teusday say this:

1) SFG - This Ain't A Love Song
2) Plan B - She Said
3) GaGa and Honey B - Telephone

very nooooiiiicccee.

Hmm... quite good but not brilliant
Still, looks like a definate no. 1, just shows what a good marketing campaign can do, it's as if they haven't been away for 2 and a half years(i hope the record label in charge of The Hoosiers is taking note, they have a new album out soon, but people will have forgotten about them if there's not a big push)
As for Killlers debate, Dustland Fairytale is very good, and excellent live, esp. the small pause halfway through...but Spaceman owns all, everything about it was perfect, but no airplay, grr)
The World We Live In = terrible

I know, Spaceman was so amazing even my dad loved it!

I hope The Hoosier's marketing director is away or has swine flu around the time of their come back personally. Then I won't have to listen to them.

Yeah , I hear that Ray , the bands marketing director , is indeed , very ill with swine flu .

Can you imagine how the band feel about this ?

I dunno .. something about cops and robbers... nah .. lost without you? No that's a similar band ..

Noooo idea Spirit :(

Scouting For Girls have the Easter number 1 .

You write a commercial radio friendly hit with 5 strong hooks , that appeal to your fans and is strong enough to get blanket radio play and draw in casual listeners then you have a big hit on your hands .
Wow , all my earlier posts here look awfully prophetic , but when you hear a song like this , with so many commercial strengths , it's quite easy to hear .

Congrats on your first number 1 single , lads !

-sigh-.. mankind fails once more...

The fact Rhianna is still in the top 10, along with Bieber, worries me more I think.

what about Usher climbing into the top 10 with a song that basically consists of an annoying football chant and recycled beats from The E.N.D!

At least The E.N.D cast offs are better than 'Baby, baby, baby ohh'. I mean really. To be fair the Usher lyrics fall just behind that in terms of "worst lyrics ever". Clearly Usher needs to sort his life out, as he's responsible for both of these musical deformities.

^^^^Last sentence: greatest putdown ever^^^^

Someone give Liam a cigar. Those lyrics are truly awful. At least 'This Ain't A Love Song's lyrics mean something.

In addition, I was quite annoyed the whilst it has been #1 for two weeks, the midweeks showed that Plan B would be #2, and GaGa and Honey B would reside at #3. How annoying.

There's always next week, eh chaps?

I heard the next SFG single today. Dear God.

You heard the next Scouting For Girls single , Dear God .

WOW , if that is the song's title , WHY didn't they make THAT song , the Easter NUMBER 1 SINGLE ?????!!!


:)

I guess they decided that the Christian buying power wasn't going to be good enough (as demonstrated with 'History Maker') and instead went for the buying power of people who like poorly constructed, repetitive, blatently manufactured to be a hit, yet strangely catchy, soulless indiepop music.

Clearly worked! Hats off.

It clearly worked !

Not only a number 1 single , but number 1 in the uk airplay chart for the last 2 weeks .
If you like em , grreat , if you don't run for cover !

And have you heard their song Radio ?
It's made for radio !
And their album is made up what sounds like 10 singles

That Roy guy , knows how to write pop hooks.

Liam , I have booked you on a 9 month holiday to the Moon , to escape this bunch.

We can have you back , ready , for the release of the next Justin Bieber album .

See you soon .

:)

Yay!

I really don't this track, particuarly when Usher puts it into context. It's just a bit of the same old from them. I did really like some stuff off the first album.. but as a result I don't really feel like I need any more the same old in my life.

I hope the next track's a grower..