This Week's Singles

At last, a decent week for new releases with a five-way battle for the #1.

Most likely to get it is McFly, who seem to sail to the top spot with ease, no matter what formulaic 60s inspired guitar pop they release. "Star Girl" (**) has a good DIY video and is pleasant enough but they’re three albums in now. Surely it’s time to change their sound just a little bit.

It’s kind of strange that “Something Kinda Oooh” (****) is the single to resurrect Girls Aloud’s chart fortunes (they’ve become the first British act to chart inside the top ten on downloads alone) when it’s basically “Wake Me Up” part 2. Unlike McFly, they’ve got more inventive with each album so it’s a shame that this is the lead off single from a premature Greatest Hits rather than a new studio album.

Fedde Le Grand’s “Put Your Hands Up For Detroit” (*) is another one of those Benny Benazzi sounding records which seems to have no musical merit whatsoever and yet could be the biggest hit out of the lot. Radio 1 have got a lot to answer for.

It’s a shame that Amy Winehouse feels she needs to get pissed on The Charlotte Church Show in order to get noticed because the appropriately titled “Rehab,” (***) an authentic slice of Ronettes-style Motown speaks for itself. She’s never even reached the Top 40 before but this has already gone top 20 on downloads alone.

Beyonce’s awfully titled “B’Day” album has sunk faster than a lead balloon in the UK but the Gabrielle-ish acoustic “Irreplaceable” (****) might just be enough to resurrect its fortunes. It’s her best single since “Crazy In Love” and its simplistic charm makes it the Single of the Week.

Cassie, yet another US R&B diva, has been compared to Aaliyah but I’ve no idea why as she has none of the warmth or versatility, and her last single had probably the most monotonous vocal delivery I’ve ever heard. It’s more of the same on “Long Way To Go” (**) but the minimal futuristic production almost saves it.

The Kooks frontman Luke Pritchard recently said the UK needs a band like them at the moment. Erm..no we don’t. “Oooh La La” (**)is pretty much the same as all their previous singles. Inoffensive radio-friendly guitar pop but nothing we haven’t heard a million times before.

The Magic Numbers are back with more of the same upbeat Mamas and the Papas-style harmonies on “Take A Chance.” (***) Like the Scissor Sisters, it still sounds fresh enough for now but they’re going to have to do better for album #3.

Panic At The Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” (****) has been around for ages but will hopefully get a better chart position second time around. It’s completely over-the-top but unlike most other dreadful emo bands, it has a sense of fun and they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. It’s a travesty that this will probably miss the top 20 when the likes of My Chemical Romance are at #1.

Rihanna’s superb “SOS” was definitely a bit of a red-herring as instead of more electro-pop, we’ve had the turgid “Unfaithful” ballad and now “We Ride,” (**) a completely forgettable R&B dirge that have could been released any time in the last decade.

Seth Lakeman has managed to bring folk to the masses, albeit in a slightly more watered down version than his Mercury Music Prize nominated debut, with his second album Freedom Fields. "The White Hare" (****) is a lovely ballad but slightly veering into dangerous James Blunt territory.

Upper Street really do seem to be up their own arses on Totally Boyband and kicking Lee out for being talentless when they have Jimmy from 911 and Danny from NKOTB seems a little hypocritical. But their debut single “The One” (***) is much better than it ought to be thanks to its squelchy bassline and rather good chorus. I can’t see it doing much better than Lisa Scott Lee’s single though.