Lopez Blogs

MOB RULE ~ I can’t believe that D’Luv finds the Kaiser Chiefs annoying They are the perfect specimen of a great pop band. Songs like I Predict A Riot, Oh My God and Every Day I Love You Less and Less had choruses just as unique and catchy as Just A Little and Love Machine, Hip to Hip and Your Game. The new album, Yours Truly Angry Mob sees the boys ditch the dodgy stripy blazers and has lead singer morphing into a lookalike of Gary Barlow to present a collection of harder edged tunes that retain their pop essentiality (new word!) Rubyrubyrubyruby is a rowdy rabble of a song that sets the tone nicely; Thankyou Very Much is like a new and improved riot that thrills from start to finish; the lovely piano based Boxing Champ is like a more sedate Rufus Wainwright and sees drummer Nick on lead vocals for the first time, and Try Your Best is going to have all the lighters aloft at the summer festivals such is it’s magnificence and sing-a-long-a-bility. What makes it so pop is that it’s an awful lot of fun to listen to and jolly catchy too – and that’s all you can hope for in a record…

THE TEN QUESTIONS THEZAPPING ASKS EVERYONE – WITH SWITCH22:

1. What are you up to today?….
SDB - recording a new track, which we cant say too much about but it’s a killer!

2. How did you get into the music business? (how did you meet)….
SWAN - after working our arses off and putting our whole lives into this, and we met whilst on the solo circuit and i threatened to punch SDB cos his voice was too good, cocky bastard!! ha ha

3. Who do you admire most in the industry?…..
BOTH - Chilli Peppers,Pet Shop boys, Micky J, Stevie W, Run DMC and Bros!

4. Live Lounge on radio one is one of thezapping’s fave programmes - if you were to do acoustic version of your own tunes and a cover version of a song in or recently in the charts, what would you do?….
SDB - Well the thing is that most people don’t know that we regularly do acoustic gigs and we love em, and we are know to do a little rendition of Toxic by Britney, though i draw the line at shaving my bonce.

5. X-Factor/American Idol - your opinions please….
SWAN - Look the thing is that it is so difficult to get into this industry and we have known people that have had deals and get dropped and end up doing those shows. Nothing against those shows what so ever but u have to realise that its all about the saturday night viewing and when that stops…… erm.

6. Slick dance routines in videos - essential for pop or had it’s day?….
SDB - No, but if it is done and done well (rhythm nation style) then why not… looks great.

7. What currently gets you on the dancefloor?…
SWAN - A pint of stella

8. Worst fashion disaster?….
SDB - of mine??!… my prom dress.

9. Tell thezapping something you haven’t told anyone else!!….
SDB - i played naked twister last night with 2 barmaids and a postman. (editors note: And you didn’t invite me?? Sweet dreaming is made of this!)

10. Finally - where do you see yourself and the pop world one year from today?…
SWAN - Rehab.

its goodnight from me…. and its goodnight from him ~S22 x

I may have had an unhealthy obsession with A1. They went from a pure pop sound to a max martin-ish sound to some gorgeous acoustic strummings and all were uniformly excellent. Then they split, Ben went solo with Sorry (read how he didn’t really want it as first single on his myspace page) and now many fans are waiting for his debut album. In the meantime, Ben kindly got stuck into the soon to be famous ten questions thezapping asks everyone. Bless him

1. What are you up to today?
just busy in my studio producing for an american artist. still working on my album too……….
2. How did you get into the music business?
i’ve always wanted to be a singer, ever since i was a kid so as soon as i was old enough to take myself up to london i just found out where auditions were being held and went along…..
3. Who do you admire most in the industry?
probably prince-he’s unbelievably talented.
4. Live Lounge on radio one is one of thezapping’s fave programmes - if you were to do acoustic version of your own tunes and a cover version of a song in or recently in the charts, what would you do?
i’d probably do caught in the middle as my new stuff hasnt been heard yet and i guess chasing cars by snow patrol-love that song.
5. X-Factor/American Idol - your opinions please
i think they’re very funny! its good because it gives people an opportunity they would not normally have had. kinda messes up the charts a bit though.
6. Slick dance routines in videos - essential for pop or had it’s day?
pop is moving into a different phase-much more urban. so that kind of thing is cool to have dancing, but i think the boyband cheesy routines has had its day. nothing wrong with seeing the pussycat dolls throw a few shapes!
7. What currently gets you on the dancefloor?
anything hip hop really. im usually pissed in a club so it doesnt matter whats playing!
8. Worst fashion disaster?
floppy curtain hair, or powder blue prada outfits for like a rose-disgusting!
9. Tell thezapping something you haven’t told anyone else!!
i’m very good in bed………..ha!
10. Finally - where do you see yourself and the pop world one year from today?
i’ll hopefully be chilling in the maldives, coctail in hand, girl at my side, millions in the bank……..and as for pop? who knows-maybe lots more bands with the word “the” before it.

Thanks to Ben for taking the time to answer these questions. You can of course check out his music at his myspace site. And you should! More ten questions participants coming soon!!

Paul: Simon wrote this as his entry for the Popjustice theme tune competition. The backing track was the same for each contestant (a typically edgy-pop Xenomania effort) and the task at hand was to write a pop tune that would fit the music. The song Simon came up with is one of his most hit-ready to date and one that I find incredibly hard to get out of my head. What is often genius about so called "throwaway pop" is how multi-layered and meaningful it actually can be if you take the time to listen properly. As a song, yes, PYMO is incredibly catchy, upbeat and I have no doubt at some point will have some amazing remixes. Lyrically, it's a commentary on the looks and image obsessed society we live in and the lengths people will go to in order to get where they want to be. Which fits well into the world of pop, and so is actually quite a clever entry for a Popjustice theme tune. Which all would have been brill on it's own – only Simon takes it up a notch and ends the song on a crucial highlight: a refrain that plays over the main chorus as he sings an internal monologue "as a kid I got a lot of shit for/liking my music but what is it for?/You should listen to this because it gives more/Yeah, but it sounds lousy on the dance floor!" I nearly hugged my computer speakers when I heard that – I can't imagine readers of Popjustice not relating to those lyrics about how you can be mocked for liking music you can dance to – and how music like that is perceived unworthy and throwaway. Clever, clever stuff (and be sure to catch the reference to xenomania and the sugababes red dress in the second verse!)I would have to disagree with Matt’s statement below that the lyrics aren’t meaningful. I think there is a lot of social relevance in this track cleverly related into pop music. This may well end up as one of THE pop songs of 2007…

Discotheque:Much more of a Discotheque vibe and very Scissor Sister-y – we likey! The Eletro-pop revolution is well and truly underway and this catchy little number, with its slick vocal, will have us on that dancefloor faster than you can say ‘Unsung hero tonight’. Definitely one to listen out for people (and Glenn demands a bassed-up remix coz this song demands it!).

Robpop: Put Your Make-up On is extremely catchy. The Xenomania backing track and the “fetch” lyrics make one mighty fine hit single. If you like Scissor Sisters but feel they are too ostensaenous or stuck in the 70’s then you might just love the ditty from the boy who california city. He snips at cross-dressing, boys who like bubblegum and get bullied for it. It might be one of the few songs out there that pays tribute to the Sugababes Red Dress single of yesterday-year without being too ass-lickish. So what about the pop song itself? It sounds like a track that Kylie and Girls Aloud would have expected to have recorded when entering the Xenomania studios but ended up sorely disappointed. Putting aside the backing track and the very contextual lyrics, the vocals are given a brilliant space to shine and expose a killer voice coming from the lungs of Mr.Curtis. Turning to the lyrics itself, its about all those boys who felt just a little bit strange loving Kylie singles and went red when they bought their copy of Smash Hits. In short, its about me. It’s a shame he has to use a profanity as this song could take him to the mainstream only if record company politics puts it underpants on and allowed the track to shine.

Poppostergirl: I'm not sure what I can say about this that I haven't said before, so, in short: Xenomania-created Popjustice theme combined with Simon and Jadion's lyrics and melody add up to a song that can easily stay stuck in your head for days, especially that chorus and the part near the ending where Simon starts talking about what everyone thought about his love of pop music (which always leaves me wanting to sing along).

Nick: This is very good pop music. It reminds me very much of Darren Hayes in a lot of ways, and I'm glad that it's got a strong electro/eighties feeling to it, rather than just being straight ahead "teen pop," which would have been quite tiresome. I think this is probably one of Curtis' best songs.

Matt Lost In Limbo:The darling of music blogs on both sides of the pond puts his lyrics to the popjustice theme song and proves to be something of a disco stomper. There's a touch of the michael jackson's to his vocal delivery, but this by no means a bad thing. The track is again very instant, the lyrics are not deep or meaningful, but that's what pop's all about.