Lopez Blogs

Who knew?! After my hideous day yesterday, I was mightily cheered up today by some super online chatting with my blog buds, and then even more so by the unveiling of the mighty new Alcazar album. Disco Defenders with it's so bright and dazzling, it's actually quite blinding cover may well be the best straight forward pop album since Same Difference's Pop. It's that simplistic and amazing. Frankly, I'm aghast at how behind I am on my Alcazarisms. I was always aware of them - even have their Abba tribute cd for some reason - but they never really registered enough of my radar for me to follow them to the degree I think I should have been. This album is lush. And with tracks written by Pet Shop Boys, Danny, Anders Alphabeat and Oscar Gorres, there may be something here to tempt everyone.

Right, so once you get past how repulsive Andreas' legs are on the cover, it's time to examine the gems contained within. Several of the tracks have already been singles in Sweden including Inhibitions (the opening of which still reminds me incredibly strongly of another song that I can't quite put my finger on) and We Keep On Rocking. Both those tracks are perky upbeat fun songs, but not entirely representative of the additional brilliance within the album. It's the exhilarating Stay The Night and Burning that gave me the first real buzz of excitment. Stay The Night is perhaps the most joyful MF entry this year and while the dusty lusty part of me wants Mans to win, I can't help but think this track deserves to be heard in discos across Europe. Ditto Burning, which is just mega. It's grown-up-Steps sound meets September (Steptember?) is just positively itching to fly into the UK top ten along side acts like The Saturdays, Alesha Dixon et al as the faces of modern pop. Other stand out tracks include the weirdly bonkers and totally marvy From Brazil With Love, which is not only co-written by Danny Saucedo but ever so slightly Army With Lovers. This of course pop historians, is a very good thing as Army of Lovers were of course completely insane, but brilliantly insane so they often produced ace pop tunes. This one has some seductive bossa nova rhythms and lyrics that are almost, but not quite a match for "he wore a tie like Richard Gere". Brill. Then of course there is Baby, which is written by the Pet Shop Boys themselves (f**k! What next - a track on the next Same Difference album?!) and is just as you would imagine a PSB written track to sound - you can almost hear Neil singing it, but it works well in the hands of others. Along with Burning, this is possibly Alcazar's best chance for UK success (though who knows after the relative failure of The Loving Kind). It would be a lovely breezy summer single and is a perfect companion track for playing after the boys own Did You See Me Coming. And let's not forget the genre-hopping Harlem Nights which is nicely inventive and could be one of the best pop singles of the autumn ("when the boys lit cigarettes with a sneer" - amazing!) along with Infernal's Redefinition. The cover of Funky Town is a fun diversion, but for me (cos I'm a sucker for tracks like this) the Abba pastiche Thank You is utterly glorious. Yes it's about 3 notes off a law suit from the band, but it works on every schmaltzy level for me and if I were Same Difference, i'd be kicking myself that this didn't round off my album :( Overall, a stunning collection of fun songs - not gonna change the world with artistic genius, but totally engaging and enjoyable from start to finish. Skill.
My order of singles: Stay The Night; Burning; From Brazil With Love; Harlem Nights/Baby; Thankyou

Same Difference - what went wrong (and why it's still so right for me):

Listening to Alcazar (multiple times) today reignited my passions for what I am sadly assuming will be Same Difference's only album. It's not that I had gone off the album - far from it, it's still a regular diversion on my way down the playlist on my mp3 player. I still think that for the most part, it's a brilliant pop album that deserved to do better. So why didn't it? Timing and marketing. It's hard to market any bro-sis duo, but not impossible. Surround them with backing dancers and singers so love songs don't have a creepy undertone. And waiting nearly 11 months from the finale of the X Factor is entirely ridiculous. We R One as a double A side with Breaking Free should have been released as a single from the album in March - they were still very much in the public eye and wouldn't have got lost in that pre-Christmas competitive market. That should have then been followed up with the near perfect pop single All Roads Lead To Heaven in the early summer - quite different from We R One, it would have gotten a wider audience and set them up perfectly for the debut album. A third single - probably If You Can't Dance - would have been released in early autumn with the Steps-esque You Better Love Me perfectly placed for their now loyal fan base to get them into the top ten at or around Christmas. And had the album done well, we could all now be enjoying a funktastic remix of Turn It Into Love and looking forward to a second album in the summer. Oh what a world what a world. Hideous :P

Coming sunday: A catch up post. Til then I'm off to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert the musical and go on Saw The Ride at Thorpe Park. Laters. Have a fun Saturday!