28 Feb 2009
If you haven’t heard of Little Boots, please crawl back under the rock you came from. For the rest of you wondering if The Times, BBC, Guardian et al are right in hailing the Blackpool singer as the Next Big Thing. Little Boots is likely to be a short lived phenomenon, with the disco beats and eighties vibe oh so fashionable right now.  The bright lights and candy of Blackpool are evident, there being an almost plastic feel to the songs, in the plastic there to be enjoyed way, rather than disposable crap way. It would be easy to let a song like this become samey and dull, with the repetitive lyrics (oh the irony of the title), but Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard production is evident and with clever digital construction and innovative electronic crescendos creating kaleidoscopic repetition.  The click of the tape deck at the end is a nod to the bedroom production Little Boots has scored cool points for. B side Meddle is a slower tempo offering, more chilled, and Love Kills has a bridge reminiscent of The Saturdays. As Victoria Hesketh says, Little Boots is the name of this project – it’s not clever and it’s not heartfelt, representative of the inner depths of her soul but it is escapist and fun. How long this project will last is not clear, but for pure neon thrills, Little Boots is where it’s at.

Graham Coxon – Sorrows Army
According to those in the know, Graham can do no wrong. Graham Coxon has not let the recent rekindling of love with Blur (the thought makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!) make him rest on his laurels. Noth-ing new and surprising from Mr Coxon, but why meddle with genius. This new single is perfect for an indie ho down. He can do no wrong.

One EskimO
Imagine Damien Rice and Dido dressed as a pengiun, eskimo, giraffe and monkey singing a song co-written by Ronan Keating and Moloko, if you will. The lyrics are inoffensive enough to get radio play, and children will love the characters, but since when has ‘for all the family’ been a term of praise for music? Commendable for their creativity., but not worth the hype.

Little Boots
Hailed by so many as the one to watch this year, Little Boots, aka Victoria Hesketh, has the disco beats and eighties vibe en vogue down to perfection The bright lights and candy of Blackpool are evident, and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard has injected his magic into the kaleidoscopic electronic production She’s not big, may not be clever, but for pure neon thrills, Little Boots is where it’s at. Whether she’ll last the whole of 2009 is another question.