All bow down before the Xenomania hit factory...
Girls Aloud - "The Show"
Girls Aloud is plain and simple, the best pop act in the world today. Actually, I'd almost go as far to say that they're the best musical act in the world period. You see, there's this little song called "The Show" that was just released to UK radio yesterday. And while I won't proclaim that it's any better than last year's "No Good Advice" or "Sound of the Underground", "The Show" is certainly the boldest pop song to see release in quite a while. After the success of the last album and the non-single, "You Freak Me Out", one would expect for Higgins and company to come up with another somewhat formulaic, yet infinitely catchy, guitar driven pop gem. Instead, we get this massive electro masterpiece, complete with two different choruses, one of which being an addictive race to the finish, robo-style chant which mentions underwear of all things. Momentum wise, it's strange how the song never really soars, being that just about every Girls Aloud release up to now has. It instead sort of flows and lingers in a constant state of flux, rotating from chorus to bridge to chorus #2 (all of which are fantastic), with a wonderful rolling beat and waves of oscillating synths driving everything forward. The verses are impactful, but abbreviated, almost like Xenomania decided to cut the fluff and just bombard us with the good stuff. It should be noted that despite the unconventional structure, "The Show" continues the Girls Aloud tradition of keeping a dirty, edgy sound while still maintaining that special pop sheen. Really, it's brilliant. Listening to "The Show" gives me the same feeling I used to get a few years back, when Timbaland and the Neptunes were still releasing surprising, unusual pop. "The Show" is by far, the single of the year up to this point, and hopefully a harbinger for what is destined to be one hell of an album.
