Pop is very much a dirty word for musos isn't it? If a band wish to be taken seriously, they should not consider the word 'pop' as part of their schtick. I know many people who at the mere mention of the word will judge a song, merely because of the connotations it holds. "Pop? As in popular? If it's got the potential to be popular, then I surely can't like it." I'm sure you've all met the type - hell, you might be the type.
Lucky for us that many musicians don't share this view. The past twelve months have been littered with interpretations of Rhianna's 'Umbrella,' and Arctic Monkeys have been known to give Girls Aloud a bit of a cover version once in a while as well. Jo Whiley (for all of her sins) has managed to get many a musician playing a chart botherer in their own styles, and often it shows that in and amongst the shiny marketability, there is many an accomplished song. There are still plenty of us out there who know how to appreciate a good pop song, who don't live in fear of sounding potentially vacuous. Thing is, if the snobs uncurled their lips for just a short while, they'd probably hear something quite special.
“She said, she said, she said, she said, she said/ Hope you get the clap and die.” (Ghosts)
OPERATOR PLEASE are that kind of special. Their debut album 'Yes, Yes Vindictive' is a collection of twelve pop-punk songs with the potential to creep right into your heart. It's not exactly boyband, but it's very much pop. To use a previous review backwards, Operator Please are like Be Your Own Pet before they lost their virginity.
The conventions of a pop album are all present here. Kick off with a few fast-paced catchy numbers, give a couple of singles prominent positions ('Get What You Want' and 'Just a Song About Ping-Pong' are tracks 2 & 3 respectively), chuck in a couple of mid-tempo number towards the middle ('Two for my Seconds' and '6/8'), a few more fast ones and finish with something a bit grand ('Pantomime'). The structure again is very much verse-chorus, verse-chorus with the occasional bridge chucked in for good measure.
“I wish I could feed you some Ritalin/ So maybe I could get a reaction.” (Get What You Want)
The tunes themselves don't sound particularly new either, in as much as there is very little to stretch the imagination in the composition. They sound like their influences, but they give everything they do a nice twist which makes it clearly their own. The production is very clean as a whole, the tunes are angular - everything is in it's right place. The violins and the keyboards control the melody, whilst the bass and lead guitars are more the backbone. It’s an unusual way to have things, but it adds to clean sound, just with slightly dirty undertones.
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It would be patronising to laud Operator Please too heavily for their lyrics due to their age, but they do need commending for making great lyrics full stop. Some of them are laugh out loud funny, others are tender, honest and brutal. They are all original, neat observations that you can get on board with immediately. There are people out there who would love to bottle youth - and musically this is as close as it gets. Like Be Your Own Pet, they articulate teenage concerns so brilliantly, satirising their age better than any adult could. The vocals are amazing – you would think there were a lot of dubbing to create the shrill but tuneful sound, but having seen them live I know it to be absolutely organic.
“I'm smiling most the time, I smile so that you’ll never see the fear.” (Other Song)
The drumming on this album is absolutely immaculate – it really stands out, making the sound of everything much more direct. It holds many of the songs together. They are the long lost Australian cousins of Arctic Monkeys, in both sound and also in how they have mastered making fantastic pop songs. They try different things out, like the dual vocals in ‘Ghosts,’ or the outright shouty punk of ‘Just a Song About Ping-Pong,’ or the simple acoustic ‘Other Song.’
There is no chance to get bored, and it’s always tempting to listen to it all over again the moment it’s finished. It can’t be said that they have a formula at all, for every song stands out in it’s own way. One negative bit – ‘Pantomime’ is a weak song to end on – it lacks the impact of any other song on the album, but it’s the one low point.
It might be the debut album of the year. It’s definitely the pop album of the year – and that’s nothing to be sneered at.
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