Stick her on repeat
You may not have heard of this act as there has been very little written or said about Little Boots in the past few weeks. Well, perhaps in comparison with the credit crunch and Sir Fred Goodwin’ hard-earned pension because lets face it, Little Boots has been omnipresent with everyone from the NME to the Sunday supplements rushing to tell the world about her talent. This is where you’d expect an online music review website to buck the trend and turn a snobbish nose up at the fawning praise being delivered to the Blackpool lass but
From the Patti La Belle and Giorgio Moroder disco influences to the murky hands of Hot Chip, the sound of Little Boots was familiar but fairly striking and likely new to the majority of the young crowd. She may be one of the hottest acts around at the moment but an after midnight appearance at a free club on a week night was always more likely to appeal to students and those who don’t care too much about their productivity at work on Friday morning. Still, there are always good reasons to doze off in front of an Excel spreadsheet and there’s not many better than an electro dance act.
Yes, she is classed as a solo artist but there is an impressive band behind her, which was just as well as the first few songs had a sound that muffled the vocals slightly. Which by the time ‘Mathematics’ came around, was no bad thing! ‘Mathematics’ is a great song, adhering to the classic and cool synth pop manual but sometimes the lyrics tend to grate. They take the puns and connections to the upper limits but then again, a track which rhymes “Pythagoras” with “works for us” has to be worth a listen and may multiply her fanbase…or at least hopefully not divide her potential audience too much.
The sad thing is that you know there will be people who have decided to overlook Little Boots on the basis that there has been a wealth of hype behind her. There’s no getting away from this and there is no doubt that the level of hype behind Victoria Hesketh (to use the Boots proper name) will have scared off as many as it has brought in.
Its important to get beyond that though as there is a sense that she could be the real deal. An act ready and capable of taking on the current pop charts whilst holding an appeal for those that considers themselves apart from all that nonsense. Electro pop lends itself well to crossing boundaries and sweeping up different fans but the quality of songs on offer from an act with one proper EP release and various tracks on compilations was impressive.
‘Every Little Earthquake’ was a song that was new to this reviewer but it instantly felt as recognisable and as comfortable as a well worn pair of Converse and that was the over riding emotion from most of the night. It was a short set, which was perfectly acceptable with the paucity of released material but there was barely a wasted minute, let alone song which is more than you can expect at this stage of any artists career.
As the set built to its climax, it was easy to get swept away with the sense of fun and enjoyment being shown by Little Boots. The crowd was fully into it, there was a sense of excitement but the singer was almost lost in her own revelry as she shook her tambourine and danced with the vigour of someone working out on the Wii Fit after a few Red Bulls. Forget all the hype, the home made videos, the concerns over just how many people are relying on this girl to be a success and focus on the fact that if you like good music, be it electro, pop or dance, you owe to it yourself to at least give Little Boots a listen.