Here Come The Drums - Rogue Traders

Here Come The Drums - Rogue Traders****(and a half)

You can't have avoided the insanely catchy single Voodoo Child from the latest huge act to hit the UK charts from Australia (and Neighbours). Yes Izzie/Izzy and her mates the Rogue Traders release their debut over these waters. So is it much cop or is Natalie Barometer (it's like the new Sugababe these surnames are too much sorry Natalie… Bassingthwaighte) gonna have to go back and ...
...spawned the album title "so here it comes, the sound of drums, here come the drums, here come the drums". A firm favourite! 5/5

3. Way to Go! - This is slightly harder than 'Voodoo Child' which naturally on first listen you'll compare the rest of the album. This is a bit Transvision Vamp which is fabulous and reminds us Voice of the Beehive when they were fabulously angry… and in a non-mean way Shampoo, who were fab, only ... more

Here Come The Drums - Rogue Traders****(and a half)

You can't have avoided the insanely catchy single Voodoo Child from the latest huge act to hit the UK charts from Australia (and Neighbours). Yes Izzie/Izzy and her mates the Rogue Traders release their debut over these waters. So is it much cop or is Natalie Barometer (it's like the new Sugababe these surnames are too much sorry Natalie… Bassingthwaighte) gonna have to go back and have an affair with Harold Bishop?

1. Believer - The opening track from the Rogue Traders (I wonder where they did get there name from) has a 'hey, hey, hey' opening like that Prodigy song we can't remember… Fire starter! It then bizarrely starts to sound like Gwen Stefani singing over a hard rocky Pink song, all guitars and hard drums! Damn, it its not half bad. "Just come on and say you love me, one more time what you waiting for, I just got paid, I won't be lonely, so take my hand what you waiting for". 4/5

2. Voodoo Child - "Baby, baby, baby, you are my voodoo child, my voodoo child." Come on you all know it you should be out of your seats already with its wicked beats and electro rock out-ness (the album version actually has a few more electro tweaks - or we've just noticed them more). It also spawned the album title "so here it comes, the sound of drums, here come the drums, here come the drums". A firm favourite! 5/5

3. Way to Go! - This is slightly harder than 'Voodoo Child' which naturally on first listen you'll compare the rest of the album. This is a bit Transvision Vamp which is fabulous and reminds us Voice of the Beehive when they were fabulously angry… and in a non-mean way Shampoo, who were fab, only Natalie can sing! Has some kitsch car like beeps and stuff - or computer game like! We also like the calm guitar solo bit in the middle. "Fake it baby they won't even know, you can make it, cos everybody knows that's the way to go". 3.5/5

4. World Go 'Round - This track has made itself into the Top Ten of the Popsalvage.com Top Pop 2006, which is some feat! Simply think this song is so catchy. It's still got the real electro dance/rock/pop beat, only it's vocally not so growly (both Natalie does fabulously) but this has a real edge. You could 'flirty-dance' to this yes that's a new PopSalvage dance; you know when you're basically doing foreplay on the dance floor ha ha! "I'm not really that type of girl, but you're my type of guy, come a little closer darlin', and I'll show you why, (you're so good), you make my world go round." Firm favourite, loving this track its sex in a song! 6/5

5. Rescue Me - This is the 'ballad' of the album, if you could call any song a ballad. Not only is it stunning, it also sounds like the next single Natalie Imbruglia could have released if Natalie Bathwater-barer hadn't gone and got there first. Her vocal is gentle and soothing to match the backing music which is dreamy and atmospheric. "Do you know I care, if you saw me would you know, do you know, I care about you still - please…" Beautiful 4.5/5

6. Watching You - Containing a slightly re-worked sample of The Knacks "My Sharona" this is a punky little fierce number. You can imagine Natalie with a Mohican and strutting her stuff (we think she might in the video to this - we need to research the site again). "Take me down town, cause baby wants to go, I need a little edge with an electro - pop" which totally sums the band up. Funky fiery punk pop! 4/5

7. Change The Channel - is like someone flicking music channels for 31 seconds, hmmm!

8. We're Coming Home - The title makes us think of a world cup song, fortunately it's like a million times better that a naff football song. It's like No Doubt with a huge punk moment Blondie shoved up there hooter and frankly we love it. As our favourite Aussie's (bar Kylie) Kath and Kim would say, its nice, unusual, different, noooooooiiiiiiiice! Its punchy pop and has a hint of Goth which is fine and dandy as we know it's pop really! 3.992/5

9. FASHION - With lyrics like "Fashion! Step back, every street's a catwalk, when you're looking that, I'm just a slave to it all, get rich, stay kitsch, give me another hit." This has a cheeky 70's (Kinks) and 80's (electro) merging sensation to it. True, we would have loved to hear them cover Bowie's 'Fashion' (if you ever do Rogue Traders I want full credit). Brilliant slice of edgy kitsch pop! 4/5. "Fashions the only cure!"

10. White Lightning - This has a weird 'what psychedelics would sound like in the naughtiest' feel. Its got a really dark edge to it, you could imagine Girls Aloud having been electrocuted by a pop storm and coming up with something as manic and mad as this… and we like it! The lyrics even hint at insanity "white lightening, the doctors say its over, white lightning, they think I've gone insane, white lightning, cause on a stormy night I'm… I'm looking for you face" bloody stalkers they wrote this song about us! Obviously… ha! 3.8769/5

11. In Love Again - Starting of quite mellow, and refreshing from the intense and brilliant punk pop electro rock, this soon becomes a brilliant synthesized electro piece of fun. This again has gone in high on the PopSalvage Top Pop and we demand is a single along with 'World Go 'Round' frankly. "He said hey, why do you always feel this way? Cause you turn my heartbreak and turn it to a song". There's an awesome "la, la, la, la, la, la, la" bit which is camp as camp can be and yet super cool lol! 5.5/5

12. Casting Aside - Oh Natalie's voice has got very deep… oh it's a man! This has a summery acoustic slightly reminiscent of Faithless 'Don't Leave' if it had a more summery tone. Like it… makes a nice change, but we would have loved the album to close with 'In Love Again', this is fab though in its own right! 3.9999999/5

To surmise buy the album - it's bloody worth it! 

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