(Who�d have thought?! 12-TRACK LP/ 1994)
Marginally before the world domineering Spice Girls blasted onto the pop scene with �Wannabe,� these 2 Barbie-bagging Shampoo girlies enjoyed luck-drawn success with the bolschy �Trouble� turn-off of their breakthrough single, followed by the sweeter, melodically blessed from an under-age over-run club �Delicious.� Alright, I bought this LP VERY, VERY cheaply a few years ago in Woolies� bargain basement New-year clear-out (prove that I didn�t!), and, er, I think it�s fucking ace! This manufactured bubblegum pop has more to chow-down on than anything S Club 7 or Did�somebody�say�our�name could flog. Not one tune�s slackly regurgitated or re-sold beneath slightly-altered lyrics later into the album, the quality tunes in innocent enough �Viva La Megababes,� �Glimmer Globe� and teenage love-lorn �Game Boy� blindingly buffed against the more spirited, youth-addressing punk-pop of �Skinny White Thing� and Trouble-trained �Shiny Black Taxi Cab.� But when I say punk, their idea of fighting-the-law is to spew up in the back of London�s smart black pride after an Alco-pop partied raz on the city. They mean well, and in their blonde hair-bleached days were big in Japan. Who dares to admit they know what�s since become of them? �
(STEVE RUDD)