If ever there was a band that was good for just one album of retro pop thrills it was the Pipettes. Unlike most artists, they almost did the decent thing and split after that singular triumph, but instead they simply shuffled the lineup, got in a bevy of new female singers, and have returned with a new record named Earth vs. The Pipettes.
The idea of a Pipettes lineup without the delectable Gwenno Saunders, Rose Elinor Dougall and Rebecca Stephens may be hard to swallow for some, but the overall sound has changed little, and it’s clear that the actual members of the band are eminently disposable. Clearly the band’s svengali, Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry, has got something of a Phil Spector complex, but he’s likely to command an audience for quite some time if he keeps churning out light summery pop fare like “Call Me.”
