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October 1, 2007 9:55 am
The Pipettes, the polka-dot clad trio from across the pond, have nothing against the Beatles. They just consider them a bit, well, obvious as a musical reference point. Instead, Gwenno, Rosay, and RiotBecki, who make up the Brighton-based hybrid of early-sixties girl band meets eighties punk by way of disco, Philly soul, and nineties dance tracks, prefer to take their cues from less obvious places. While their vibe and sound (not to mention those fabulous choreographed dance routines) could be oversimplified as new wave Supremes, a good listen to their debut album, We Are the Pipettes (Cherrytree/Interscope), available stateside on October 2, suggests that there’s more to their music than simple retro-fetishizing. They are, quite simply, lots of fun. As Rosay, who chatted to us about frocks, Abba, and avoiding inflated egos, puts it, “There was a real lack of that kind of thing in the industry.”
How did the idea for the band come about?
We were looking for a different line in pop music history that wasn’t just the Beatles, the Stones…and U2, or whatever. So we started thinking a little more naturally and differently about our musical history. It became a little bit of a research project.
What kind of bands did you guys “research”?
Well, we all kind of new about these old bands, but there were so many—like the Charades have this song, Dumb Head, and then there’s the most amazing song from the Murmaids called Popsicles and Icicles. And Abba—Abba is a massive influence.
Do you think coming from Brighton helped nurture these ideas into a full-fledged movement?
Definitely. It’s quite a hedonistic town, with a mix of people. It’s a bit tacky in a kiss-me-quick kind of way. There’s always been a strong creative tradition there that’s very open to new things, and there’s a broad range of music being made here—like British Sea Power and Restlesslist, a really good electronic instrumental band.
Your synchronized dance numbers have become quite the signature. Who choreographs them?
They’re not the most complex things in the world! It’s a joint effort, really. We’re interested in the performance element, and we really want our audience to want to dance—and you can’t expect that if you’re not dancing yourself! We were so bored of going to gigs and watching people not know what to do with themselves.
Tell me about the polka dots—are they just kitschy embellishments?
Well, the original concept of the band was that we kind of wanted to have a uniform—we were interested in the idea of branding and the polka dots seemed like a casual motif that was synonymous with us as brand: bold, brash, and fun.
How would you describe the band’s collective style?
We’re really only interested in dresses that are comfortable and make us feel confident, not necessarily sexy. We want to promote the concept that it’s not about individual egos. Wearing the same dresses on stage lets us escape any potential for that, which is really a great thing.
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