New Young Pony Club is unquestionably the dumbest sounding band name I've come across in the last few years. A five—piece outfit (three girls and two guys) from London, they come across every bit like the art posers The Manhattan Love Suicides are, though theirs is a much more streamlined and whimsical artiness. Owing more than a nod to the all—girl '70s band Delta 5, NYPC are Dance Fever brats with a post—punk chip on their shoulder. They veer dangerously close to electro—kitsch, but their too—cool—for—school attitude is kept in check by a genuinely spirited kids—in—the—playground vibe. It all comes together in the supremely silly single, "Ice Cream" (4.0): Over clanging, shrill guitars and a teasing "Billie Jean" back beat, they promise to, well, make you ice cream. (
myspace.com/newyoungponyclub)
Also from London, back in stores soon with her second solo album, is former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. First single "Behave" (3.5) zig—zags around a wobbly guitar riff that'll have you wondering if the belt drive on your turntable is about to snap (until you remember it's actually an MP3 you're listening to). No current pop singer I can think of (including hit—me—one—more—time Britney) squeezes as much import from the word "baby" as does dear Charlotte; the inflection Hatherley adds to the second syllable—in her hands it's not "baby" so much as "ba—behhh!"—is utterly sublime. Her slated follow—up single, "I Want You to Know" (4.0) is furious, primal—beat rockabilly. Which is to say she dons some serious Adam Ant/Bow Wow Wow armor here, while somehow retaining both her marbles and her dignity. (
myspace.com/charlottehatherley)
Bonus Beats: Billboard clearly needs to add a new chart to their list: "Top 40 R&B/Hip—Hop Tracks That Have Nothing Whatsoever to Do With Timbaland." Now into his 11th year of chart domination as a producer, the man shows no signs of slowing down. Along with 2006 hangers—on like Nelly Furtado's "Say it Right" (3.5) and Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around ..." (3.0), Timba's already at it again with recent chartbusters like Omarion's "Ice Box" and The Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute," which couldn't sound more different from one another. "Ice Box" (3.5) is skittish, swirly, mid—tempo break—up music, with a tinkly piano line escalating the frozen emotional desolation of the lyrics. "Wait a Minute" (4.0) is a bang—zoom, up—tempo freestyle dance track, all tightly wound and full of snap, with a vocoder—inflected cameo from the star producer himself. (It's also, incidentally, the first listenable Pussycat Dolls song.)
If you were to ask me who is the very last person I would expect to see back on the charts in 2007—not including Bill Haley & The Comets or Ugly Kid Joe—I'd probably say John Waite, the guy behind that perfect 1984 hit "Missing You." Well, he's back, this time on the country charts, with, you guessed it, a new version of "Missing You" (3.5), performed as a duet with the lovely Alison Krauss (the only reason this carbon copy isn't utterly pointless). Good to know we're still missed, I guess.
Stranger still: a good new single from Sweden's very own Roxette (and you thought John Waite was a stretch?). "Reveal" (3.0) is ornately pretty baroque pop—sort of Enya—goes—to—Penny—Lane. The version I purchased through iTunes is mystifyingly labeled the "clean" version; the mind boggles at the idea of an "explicit" counterpart.
When it comes to solo Beyoncé singles, I've generally, with a couple of exceptions, tilted toward the "no thanks" column, but after weeks of resisting its lure, I'm finally won over by "Inescapable"—er, make that "Irreplaceable" (4.0). I guess the brain implant finally kicked in. There's apparently no truth to the rumor of an answer record by Paula Abdul called "Incomprehensible," but the idea alone is worth a 5.0, easy.