Lock Up Your Daughters.
With Ian Broudie in charge of the production desk, it's unlikely that Ripchord's debut single was going to be anything less than a guitar pop smash and 'Lock Up Your Daughters (And Throw Away The Key)' is exactly that.
Its intro is hardly earth shattering but very quickly the tempo ups and the hushed vocals give the impression that something bigger is to come. If the first verse had came blaring in, there wouldn't have been as much impact for the chorus to make, so that little bit of restraint reaps the benefit later on. With the guitar line rattling about rather fast, and although it has a thin edge to it, it does enough in a Franz type manner to get the kids on the dance floor.
It's the time for all the new upstarts and hopefuls to come crawling out of the woodwork and the competition is going to be fierce, Ripchord share a label with The View, so there's an obvious contender right there, but on first impressions......Ripchord are in with a shout.
And it's about a girl but why not, there's probably hundreds of girls I've seen this year already who I'd like to dedicate a song to, so the more the merrier. And if that's just shallow, the song can also be standing for the things that you just can't reach or the things that keep you going and even the general spirits that keep you going. And that's what good pop is all about - bringing people together and having a good time.
Add Ripchord to the list of ones to look out for in the year ahead.