(SonyBMG)

More proof of the power of feel-good simplicity, perhaps too muchMore proof of the power of feel-good simplicity, perhaps too much

Ah, the double-edged sword of success. This London trio’s debut album has been huge in Britain but it has also seriously stirred up the critics, one side saying Scouting For Girls are “a shoe-in for the shittiest band in Christendom category”, and the other talks of “the band’s knack for easy melody, (with) a delicious sense of urgency and excitement”. Either way, it’s all a bit far-fetched for what is really just inoffensive, slightly gawky, adolescent-themed, piano-pounding pop, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Occasionally you get echoes of Ben Folds Five, but not as smart and lacking both the irony and the implied anger, or even at times Muse, but without their earnest pomp and circumstance. Which is really the point with these guys – in their minds, they haven’t grown up yet, so they can sing of schoolday crushes (She’s So Lovely) and movie heroes (James Bond) without embarrassment, and wrap it all in a singalong pop that nags at you. And if there’s not much depth and a limit to how far all this persistent chirpiness carries, Scouting For Girls clearly know how to sugarcoat these sentiments well enough to make a mark.

**½

BILL HOLDSWORTH

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