Video: The Pipettes - Call Me

June 24, 2010

Liz Caruso

The Pipettes stole my heart, along with a multitude of others, with their debut album We Are the Pipettes. Their retro pop music was expertly crafted, drawing just the right amount of Phil Spector girl group influences combined with modern touches (most notably in their lyrics - I don't think you'd have ever heard a song like "One Night Stand" or "Sex" or "Dirty Mind" during those golden eras of pop).

So... what happened? Listening to this song, and watching its corresponding video, it seems the magic just isn't there any more. Perhaps this has to do with the reforming of the line-up after former members Rose Dougall (Rosay) and Rebecca Stephens (RiotBecki) broke from the group.

Perhaps it's something else entirely, or maybe it's just simply innately weird when a band's members have changed, but the name of said band hasn't (take The Like, for example). Perhaps these changes will grow on me once their second album Earth vs. The Pipettes is released in the US, just like The Like's newest release has grown on me.

Or finally, perhaps (I'm gunning for the "most prolific use of 'perhaps' in a post" award), as Darren brilliantly suggests, Gwenno - the only remaining original member - should have gone solo and called herself "The Pipette."