Songster sisters Shellie and Karen Poole have joined forces with Grammy nominee Bill Bottrell for their third outing. And the producer's connection with Sheryl Crow is immediately apparent in the sugar-coated, mild-mannered feminism that pads out this album.
Single 'Push It All Aside's velvety pop peaks in Crow-ian style, little and often. In fact, there are so many minor build ups and rallying rhymes that you feel trapped in a perpetual chorus. Trapped amidst the twee reflections of Shellie and Karen is probably not the worst place you could be, and their songs' inherent catchiness is less irritating than, say, scabies, but you could probably lead an equally fulfilled life without ever experiencing either.
'Sex Is On Everyone's Tongue' is a better-never-than-late attempt at Girl Power through the admission of harlotry, delivered in such sweet, drifting tones that, if you've not been paying attention, you'd be surprised that such nice girls as these could ever behave in such a way. But then, they are only daring to taunt us with owning up to the odd random snog. Mrs Poole, lock up your daughters!
The wishy-washy, non-taxing melody of 'Pilot', like pretty much everything else here, captures exactly what it was about self-righteous, female-fronted pop produced in the 1980s by girls who weren't especially bright. Its half-hearted attempts at depth and sniping observation make Alanis Morrisette sound like a female Bob Dylan.
But their tepid social commentary is backed by saccharine melodies that sit strangely between soft girly rock and easy listening. It's just as likely that The Bangles could belt out 'Perfectly Happy', while there's an aspiration to sounding like a bitter Bacharach throughout.
Basically it's Voice Of The Beehive after they got into the Partridge Family and everyone went off them. It's almost as if they are purposefully avoiding the climactic pop of 'I Am, I Feel'. While it lacks any immediate aural offense, 'The House We Built''s mild pop is never going to be the soundtrack to anything more significant than a warm glass of average white wine on your own sofa.
