Brit Music Scene

Posted: 19 Jul 2009 11:52 AM PDT

Contestants from Simon Cowell’s reality talent shows have had mixed success trough the years. Some, such as Leona Lewis and Will Young, have managed to stand the test of time and forge careers from their experiences. While others, such as Steve Brookstein and Michelle McManus are now nowhere to be seen after disappearing into obscurity pretty quickly.

The last series of The X-Factor was won by Alexandra Burke, who is currently being groomed for stardom by Simon Cowell and his cronies. But beating her to the punch by some months with their debut single is JLS (Jack the Lad Swing), who were the runners-up on the show. The single, Beat Again, was released last week and has today gone straight in to the British Singles Chart at number one.

JLS are a boyband walk a fine line between Pop and R’n'B. They look good, both individually and collectively, dance well, and generally sing well. So they’re pretty much the complete package young girls look for in a group. And it’s young girls who they’re clearly being targeted at with this first single.

Beat Again is definitely more on the Pop side of things than it is on the R’n'B side of things. It’s kind of like R’n'B for the tween population who need everything packaged up in an easily digestible portion. Beat Again sees JLS in their comfort zone, not taking any risks, and not doing anything which may harm their longterm careers. One of Simon Cowell’s manufactured groups playing it safe? I’d have never have thought that possible.

The song isn’t too bad but it’s not exactly exciting or inspiring either. The lyrics leave a lot to be desired, sounding like they were written on the back of a beermat at the end of a particularly drunken evening in the pub.

The video also does nothing we haven’t seen a million times before. It’s just the four members of JLS standing in a studio made up to look like an old warehouse dancing a bit. And looking like they were dressed in matching outfits by their mums.

I quite liked JLS on The X-Factor and was hoping for big things from them. Getting to number one with their debut single is obviously them achieving that but it’s with a record that although catchy isn’t really anything to write home about. If the album is as poppy as Beat Again then they’ll add lots of fans but lose a lot of kudos.

Song: 6/10
Video: 4/10

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[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

Post from: Brit Music Scene