Girls Aloud - Chemistry

Pop is not a dirty word, and if you think otherwise, head outside and take it up with Cheryl. Girls Aloud are back, and it’s less with a bang, more with a full on nuclear holocaust. McFly, Madonna and Rachel Stevens may all have recorded defining mainstream albums (with differing commercial success) in 2005, but ‘Chemistry’ has left them all flat on their back, begging for mercy.

Sassy, sexy, a little bit sweary and the complete antidote to the singer/songwriter boredom of the last few months, ‘Models’ is the ultimate wake up call. More than a match for any of the electro-mafia, it’s a fantastic track by any measure. More fun than Goldfrapp, quicker to the draw than Charlotte Church, it’s confirmation of a pop band making a proper album: it’s not just the singles that stand up to the test.

Even the ballads don’t fall quite as flat as before. ‘Whole Lotta History’ won’t have the adults heading for the bar, and ‘See The Day’ more than matches any of that charity single rubbish. ‘Biology’ actually can fit three songs into under four minutes of pop and still come out sounding the freshest track of the last twelve months, while ‘Racy Lacey’, despite being a bonus track, still delivers the goods. There’s no filler here.

It’s no secret that 2006 will see a greatest hits, a press conference and more than a few tears at DIY HQ, but for now they’re untouchable. The greatest pop girl group ever? Bananarama, Spice Girls, B*Witched, you’re taking one hell of a beating.