Let's start with the single most important fact: Girls Aloud, the female band formed in front of millions on Pop Stars: The Rivals, have made a seriously fine debut album. OK, so it's not 'Blonde On Blonde', 'Innervisions' or 'OK Computer', but it may well be another 'Spice'.
The above statements, granted, fly in the face of all conventional wisdom. The music churned out by the past 18 months' worth of so-called "reality" TV shows have ranged from the reasonably adequate (David Sneddon, Liberty X) through the carpet-chewingly banal (Will, Gareth) and on to the frankly terrifying (Cheeky Girls). And, bizarrely, considering each show was basically a glorified soap opera with a high music content, none of the personalities viewers bought into has managed to transfer itself to recording tape. Until now.
The Spice comparison sets high standards for Girls Aloud, but it's a valid one. Not since Ginger, Posh, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail bounded onto the scene has there been a girl group with such a brilliantly crafted sound - All Saints possibly excepted. Which is odd, considering that the lion's share of the songs here were written by Brian Higgins, whose work has been made available to the Sugababes, amongst others.
As well as the titular Link Wray meets Transvision Vamp Christmas Number One and recent No 2, bratty 'My Sharona' relation 'No Good Advice', there are at least four other hits lurking here. 'Some Kind Of Miracle' is a 21st century Bangles, 'All I Need (All I Don't)' a disco-funk workout with traces of Cameo and 'Bedtime Stories' vintage Madonna, while 'Mars Attacks', written by '80s pop uber-babe Betty Boo, is hip hop-referencing surf punk. 'Stop' starts like the Skids' 'Into The Valley' but gets sultry instead of surreal, 'Boogie Down Love' mixes the hook of Blondie's 'Call Me' with the bells from 'Rapture', and one of the ballads is likely to be rolled out to compete with next year's reality TV crop at Christmas.
The only problem Girls Aloud have is their crappy name, and the fact that it doesn't lend itself to the "Sporty Spice, Baby Spice" type nicknames that were fundamental in helping Geri, Mel, Emma et al become part of pop's psyche. Sarah, Cheryl, Kimberley, Nadine and Nicola all bring the same individuality to the group environment, and they have the material to back it up. In short, unlike their peers, Girls Aloud will be around for a while. So you can either get used to it, or get into it.
