LITTLE BOOTS - Hands
LITTLE BOOTS - Hands
Written by Luke Oram   
Monday, 20 July 2009 12:48
little boots - hands LITTLE BOOTS
is the lady-rock moniker of 25-year old Blackpool’s Victoria Christina Hesketh.

The story’s fairly generic by now –
young, 20-something, multi-instrumentalist, empowered-female rises up from the suburbs to deliver a sweet batch of freshly baked, sensational electro-tinged pop.
And therin lies the gaff. It seems by the time LITTLE BOOTS joined the party, the bandwagon was well and truly rolling, which leaves her debut 'Hands', sounding a little dated already. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with Hesketh’s nu-disco debut, there’s nothing particularly stunning about it either – it falls short of the scandal, attitude and edge of her electro-pop counterparts Lady Gaga and Ladyhawke.

'Hands' has its moments. The dark disco throb of  ‘Stuck On Repeat’ begs for a dancefloor remix and ‘Meddle’ channels some nu-wave Shirley Bassey swagger with a catchy chorus and a neo-Gregorian chant bridge.

'Hands' also has its rookie plays. ‘Mathematics’ showcases some absolutely atrocious lyrics, riding the maths metaphor over a very trite cliff face. The least she could have done was throw in a not-so-oblique innuendo á la Taking A Ride On Your Disco Stick, rather than this “A Heart Plus A Heart” bollicks. The whole album suffers from some pretty cringe-worthy lyrics. ‘Symmetry’ comes off as some kind of bad karaoke debut with Blackpool’s local Pet Shop Boy’s tribute band.

'Hands' is a capable debut, but this phaser ain’t set to stun. Little Boots is far too polite, literal and safe for her genre. I guess it’s an English thing. 

 

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