It'd be really easy to put the boot into Lily Allen, wouldn't it? Keith's daughter, self-styled queen of MySpace, supergob supreme, two major label record deals before the age of 21... do I need to go on? Well, yes, because although her constant, shamelessly self-promotional rants about other bands have grown tiring already, her summery debut album is still sizzling away on my stereo after a good few weeks' play.
True, it might not be there in six months, but Allen's music doesn't pretend to be challenging: it's sugar-sweet bubblegum pop that does exactly what it says it on the tin. It's disposable, it's now, and while The Eraser or Black Holes And Revelations might just change your life, this undoubtedly won't. It'll certainly make you laugh, though, and maybe even 'Smile'...
Alright, Still kicks off with the aforementioned number one single, an infectious slice of bouncing, carnival reggae that punches hard with its opening line: "When you first left me / I was wanting more / But you were fucking that girl next door / What you do that for?" A melancholy theme set against breezy beats, and not an obvious TOTP contender on the surface, 'Smile' is good but far from one of the LP's choice cuts.
Instead, it's left to 'Knock 'Em Out', where Allen tells a sleazy admirer she's pregnant and has herpes, and 'Not Big', a tale of premature ejaculation, infidelity and size issues, to raise the lyrical temperature. Paroxically, the first seven tracks of the record could happily soundtrack a children's TV show with their playful melodies, or provide the script for a post-watershed episode of Eastenders.
Things tail off noticeably towards the end with the forgettable 'Take What You Take' and 'Friend Of Mine', both lacking in wit and imagination compared with what's gone before. 'Alfie' rescues things a bit, but Allen's MySpace followers will be disappointed with the omission of live favourite 'Nan, You're A Window Shopper' (sample lyric: "You're mad as fuck, and you're just alive") due to licensing issues with some of the samples, and 'Cheryl Tweedy', a track based on Origin Unknown's DnB anthem 'Valley Of The Shadows'.
Alright, Still, then, is almost a brilliant record, easily a good one and one that promises to divide opinion like Marmite. As much of a cliché as it is, you're either going to love Allen or hate her. Chances are, if you've been downloading the songs, keeping up with her blogs and laughing at the soundbites, you're in the former camp; if not, you've probably already dismissed her as a fake with a famous dad.
If, though, by some twist of fate, you've managed to avoid all the headlines, give this a chance and you might just be pleasantly surprised.
her fame
just leaves me wandering - why was her dad famous anyway? what's he actually done?
anyone know?
He dies in Shallow Grave
..
fat and naked on a bed.
Way to ruin it for me,
Diver.
:'(
Hit and run
he almost ran over me in his Range Rover. He was using it to drive to the front of the stage at Glastonbury. Through the crowd. Nice guy.
He fathered and raised a child!!
and speaking as a father, that is no small feat. Just the other day i was... <abandon reply>
comic strip presents!
and he was in trainspotting.
errr
vindaloo
he's also a very good and well respected Shakespearean actor
something which often goes unmentioned..
And there was World In Motion too
A professional irritant he may be to many, but an infinitely more talented one than probably every other sort that could be called that.....
listerine
FAIRY
she made it with myspace???ummm
yeah she didnt mention she signed to the same record label as blur
there bass player was best mates with her dad hold on you dont think ??
no that would mean that the music industry lied to us all!!!!
i am off to end it all
This
isn't as bad a record as everyone wants it to be though.
'Smile' is a great pop song and 'LDN' is even better. Granted, some of the Skinnerisms (second track, can't remember what it's called, awful though) are a bit cringeworthy but it doesn't pretend to be anything other than that. Ignore the stupid quotes in the MEN and listen to 'Alright Still' for what it is.
spot on review!
i wish nan you're a window shopper was on the album instead of friend of mine.
Alfie is ACE though. :D
nme interview last week
it's one of these things where it makes no sense that she's being seen as controversial. because almost nothing she says is at all controversial. it's like, well obviously, the kooks are shit: so what?
i accept she's probably trying to grab headlines with these things. But most of what she says is just fair enough. I dont really see why there's so much coverage, that's a bit annoying.
...
at this point, because of the massive media campaign and constant exposure, i find it impossible to separate her repulsive public image from the music (which i think is average at best anyway). I just want to slap her collossal forehead and get her to shut the fuck up.
i'm glad i dont read
the papers, or watch much tv. that miht have spoiled it for me.
...
i try not to watch tv and i just read news websites but she's fucking everywhere - walls, banners, magazines. i only heard of her 2 weeks ago and now i pretty much know what her colon looks like. she must have money being poured on her.
i do watch some tv
and the nme and on here are the only places i've seen or heard about her.
and i havent really been buying the NME lately.
maybe it's a london thing.
LA story
To which I add Newsnight Review on BBC2 last Friday. Unfortunately, Tom Paulin wasn't on the panel to illuminate parallels between the careers of Ms Allen and Ariel Sharon.
emi
sent me three copies of this. i threw 'em all in the bin. they're probably being picked at by seagulls on a rubbish tip somewhere.
Give them to
charity or something you selfish bastard.
disposable, not challenging...
...must be a pop review.
That second paragraph wound me up. Funny how these cliches dont seem to turn up when it comes to our indie friends. How 'challenging' are the kooks, or editors? Really? Isnt this type of music more challenging, in that it incorporates genres (albeit in a diluted form) that yr average indie kid has no idea about? In what way is this disposable? Will anyone be listening to Dirty Pretty Things in 5 years?
I
should hope that no one is listeninig to them now.
fucking shit
carmik
i think you've misjudged what the majority of people here listen to.
all good points
I didnt mean to imply you are all DPT fans. Heaven forbid.
Im a bit touchy when it comes to pop music...i dont think its always given the consideration it deserves at times, and i tend to see (probably unintentional) condescension towards it in reviews.
It's just
not very good pop music though is it?
Bang on.
I've nothing against pop music like this (especially if it has a darker underbelly like this does. I love much of this LP).
But pop repackaged in trilbies for 14-year old girls and middle aged men who think they are better than people who buy Alright Still, I do have a problem with, yet they're allowed to do it?
...
kooks are average, the editors are average
the dirty pretty things are average
do you see where i am going with this...
Pop is by nature disposable no one will hold up any of these artist in 5 years time
Her album is about as challinging
beans on toast...
Good luck if lilly allen makes ity into your cd collection...probably next to the Suger Babes albums gathering dust....
I've managed to avoid all the headlines
so maybe that last sentence means I should listen to this.
Or maybe I should just switch the radio on and listen out for this 'ere single.
Though... hang on a sec... isn't Black Holes And Revelations the new Muse album? And I know The Eraser is Thom Yorke... forgive me for laughing bitterly at the thought of either of those "changing my life"!
Everytime she is mentioned to me in some way or another...
...all I can think about is a fat naked corpse sprawled over a bed. Hence the reason why I don't like her much.
Keith Allen
is a cunt yet we're expected to embrace his bus-shelter-faced daughter?
Fuck off.
her dad was
also in the taxi comedy, Roger Roger which was really funny. But no one else watched that apart from me :(
Not really a fan...
However her cover of 'Naive' by the Kooks on Radio One's Live Lounge was light years ahead of the original.
If she shut her mouth a bit, maybe a few more people would be interested in her.
smile...
...is an unpleasant song with an annoying vocalisation. The album is more of the same. I don't care how she got where she is album deal wise, all I care about is not having to hear that damned single any more.
Also if Connor McNicholls thinks this shit is worthy of a Mercury nomination then I'm going to have to get planning permission to dig a huge pit so that I can lower my respect for him as a critic even further.
What a cretin, what a slightly unpleasant jaded woman, what an average and slightly cloying album.
poopy poo poo pop.
Good pop or bad pop it just goes to show its not what you know..
....My old man used to be the chauffer for Diana Dors. Can I have a record contract please?
my little brother went to school
with alfie of "alfie" fame (i.e. her bro)
this is the most pathetic claim to fame everrrr.
I once met
Muhammad Ali.
And my dad's met all of the Rolling Stones waaay back in the early 70's, so I think I win.
Beat my mate at least, he's only met the Chuckle Brothers.
...
'LDN' was a cracking pop song, the rest of it just gets on my tits.
...
morrisey spilled my pint.
get in.
pop
If we have to have throw away pop records on this planet, I'd rather Lily Allen than bloody Westlife
There aren't...
...any words in the english language that can sufficiently convey just how much I despise that 'Smile' song. Ugh.
I finally heard this yesterday
I have two problems with it. The first is that the music is just unrelentingly pedestrian. It trundles along on borrowed groove after borrowed groove. A lot of the stuff it's sampled / plagurised from (not sure which) was originally intended as revolutionary, provocative music. But here it's had all the spunk removed.
For me, the bigger deal breaker is her lyrics. She comes accross as spoilt, spitefull and snobby. I think she's somehow interpreted "spunky" as a mean spirited contempt for other human beings. It's like she's trying to make up for her privileged background by being overly nasty. In fact, like a lot of rich folks, I get the feeling she just doesn't like people, full stop. Is that cool? Personally, I don't find it cool.