Girls Aloud
is the leggy quintet that beat out rival boy band
One True Voice
for the grand prize during the November 2002 finale of
Popstars: The Rivals
. A scion of existing U.K.
reality
shows like
Popstars
and
Pop Idol
(which itself spawned
American Idol
),
Rivals
followed a similar formula, with one essential twist. After spending weeks building its bands with the normal round of tryouts, kick outs, voting, and drama, drama, drama, the program pitted its final products against one another in an ultimate
pop
-
showdown. As usual, it didn't really matter which group won -- the finalists were to embark on the normal cash-in package tour as soon as possible. But something funny happened on the way to ringtone fame.
's debut single
"Sound of the Underground"
debuted at number one,
imploded, the collaborative tour was canceled, and the
Girls
suddenly emerged as something more than wide-eyed
TV winners. The quintet embraced their newfound celebrity and set the lofty goal of being better than
the Spice Girls
. To that end, there's
Sound of the Underground
, a cleverly arranged tray of sweetmeats manufactured to firmly establish the
sound. Unlike
Sporty
,
Baby
Scary
Ginger
, and
Posh
, separate personas aren't part of the
marketing arc.
Underground
's cover features them in matching Fem-Bot silver -- there's no individuality beyond varying hair color. No, it's the sound that sells this combo. The hit title track is a mechanistic sashay of twangy
surf
guitar and sultry gang vocals --
explodes like a five-headed
Kylie Minogue
. Follow-up single
"No Good Advice"
is just as good, if not better. That scraggly spy movie guitar returns, but it's fastened to a bopping
"Material Girl"
-style groove.
does a great job of carrying its sound and production through to the end, dropping sizzling guitar parts and kinetic dancefloor jams as deep in the dirt as
"Boogie Down Love,"
its second-to-last track.
"All I Need (All I Don't)"
should be another club favorite, moving easily between
new wave
and lighthearted
disco
. Even
"Life Got Cold"
--
's
"2 Become 1"
-- is a solid
ballad
, suggesting a less intellectual
Dido
(sample lyric: "We text as we eat/As we wait for the right of way"). But even in its quieter moments,
is careful not to let any of the
take over. Their voices are average, and negligibly different. Unlike
has no self-styled MC or even a knickers-flashing loudmouth. Not yet, anyway. Despite their surprising debut,
and its brain trust will have to work twice as hard to retain the glamorous ground gained. ~ Johnny Loftus