One of the most iconic girl bands of all time are back! Devastated by the death of bandmate Sarah Harding from breast cancer in 2021, the four remaining members of Girls Aloud – birthed from a reality TV show but inactive since 2013 – were nevertheless reunited as a consequence, and on their 21st anniversary last November announced plans to get the mics out again. They’ll be hitting the Welsh capital on Bank Holiday Monday, playing strictly bangers only at Utilita Arena Cardiff – but What Will The Neighbours Say?, asks India Munday, as she rounds up five of the best Girls Aloud songs.
1. Biology
Best pop song ever is a declaration that carries weight, and I firmly believe that Girls Aloud’s Biology deserves to be considered among the top contenders. The 2005 song travels through several styles, with interchanging melodies that broke the standards of manufactured pop, and sampling The Animals’ Club A Go Go. Fittingly, the single’s cover art portrays each member inside a vial, cleverly poking fun at the perception of commercial pop as being lab-grown. You certainly can’t mistake their biology, nor their legendary knack for creating banger after banger.
2. Sound Of The Underground
Sound Of The Underground was Girls Aloud’s first single after they formed on reality television show Popstars: The Rivals, and it was a commercial success to say the least. With surf guitars, a drum’n’bass vibe inspired by Puretone’s Addicted To Bass, and verses echoing nursery rhyme The Wheels On The Bus, it stayed at number one for four weeks following their Christmas victory on the show. But the edgy pop song wasn’t actually originally made for Girls Aloud: it was first recorded by Orchid, a forgotten London girl group involving actress/singer Louise Griffiths. Still, could you even imagine it being sung by anyone else?
3. Love Machine
The first few notes of the opening riff of Girls Aloud’s Love Machine is enough to make your toe start tapping to this outrageously upbeat banger by the pop princesses. Said to be inspired by The Smiths, with further hints of 80s synthpop, this second-album slammer was even statistically claimed as the second most “exhilarating song ever” (after Blur’s Song 2), according to research carried out by Nokia. Comparing songs like this to today (sorry, Little Mix) really makes you realise how exciting this group was for 00s pop, and beyond.
4. The Promise
The Promise pays tribute to 1960s music, with a nod to the production techniques of Phil Spector. The Motown-esque track, with a hint of Duffy, proved that the ladies could try out new styles time and time again and hit the nail on the head on each occasion – especially with the help of songwriting powerhouses Xenomania, who wrote most of their catalogue. Harding’s line is the most memorable, belting out “Here I am, a walking primrose…”; this single – taken from 2008’s Out Of Control, their fifth and last studio album – deservedly won Girls Aloud their first Brit.
5. Can’t Speak French
Actions speak louder than words, or in this case, Girls Aloud’s funky music. The irresistibly catchy, albeit silly, lyrics of this jazzy midtempo song infuse it with fun. Interestingly, Girls Aloud also recorded a French version, showcasing their wit as well as vocals. Can’t Speak French’s iconic music video sees the girls dressed in extravagant Marie Antoinette-style outfits, causing havoc at an exquisite dinner party, and B-side Hoxton Heroes is also worth noting here: deemed as too ‘controversial’ to go on the album, it mocked ‘serious’ indie bands of the time such as The Libertines.
Girls Aloud, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Mon 27 May.
Tickets: from £57 (sold out). Info: here
words INDIA MUNDAY