Remi Nicole - 'Rock 'N' Roll'
I have to confess, I was SO looking forward to reviewing this song. Not least because the chorus has been going around and around in my head for the last week, so I was already fairly sure what I wanted to say about it. And also, it's an excuse to listen to the thing a number of times in a row (not that I really need one), and that's got to be good.
Yep, Remi haterz, there's probably not going to be much point you reading to the end of this one, unless you enjoy scoffing at people whose opinions don't tally with yours. And what kind of smugly gimp would want to do that?
What, ALL of you? Right you are...
Things I Like About 'Rock 'N' Roll' by Remi Nicole
Thing 1: The title rhymes with the artists name. Which makes ordering it at the shops more fun.
Thing 2: The opening couple of seconds is a bit like 'Hellraiser' 'Ballroom Blitz' by the Sweet, which has one of the better song opening moments of any song in the entire recorded history of music. "Are you ready Steve?" "Uhuh"...
Thing 3: The chorus just sticks in your mind like cinnamon on a tongue (you've seen the YouTube idiots attempting to eat a teaspoon of cinnamon, right?). And is the kind of thing you find yourself scaring passers-by with as you sing it to yourself. Seriously, a 6ft tall man singing "yeah, I can wind down low. Be like the girls in the video" in a crowded shopping centre is a recipe for common assault.
Thing 4: It's a nice message, sort of a misfit anthem for anyone whose taste goes outside the kind of music people would assume they would like, judging by their appearance. And there's not one of us who this doesn't apply to in some way.
Thing 5: It's a pop song with jokes in it. There's no enough of those about.
Thing 6: I cannot over-emphasise how much that chorus can take over your cerebral cortex, given half a chance. It's catchy in the same way foot & mouth is catchy.
Things I Do Not Like About 'Rock 'N' Roll by Remi Nicole
Thing 1: It's not exactly rock 'n' roll, is it? More of a jive/shuffle sort of a thing. I spose it's probably rock 'n' roll in comparison to hip hop, but then Snow Patrol are rock 'n' roll in comparison to hip hop. It doesn't make them rock 'n' roll in an empirical sense. I'm well aware that this is nit-picking, but you play this next to 'Rip It Up' by Little Richard, or 'Rock 'N' Roll' by Led Zeppelin, and you'll see why it's a valid point to make.
Thing 2: I'm a little worried that this chorus is going to be here for life. I've got mental tinnitus!
OK, BRING ON THE SCOFFING...
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 26th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
A thousand curses are rained down upon your head and upon your childrens heads and your childrens childrens heads for this act of utter heresy!!!!!
How dare you misquote The Sweet! You complete and utter mountebank.
The quote is from 'Ballroom Blitz'.
Git.
[So it's not so much a misquote as a mis-attributed quote, yes? You're quite right though. I've changed it now.- Fraser]
Even though I'm not fond of this song or Remi herself all that much, I do like this review, mainly for introducing me to the word 'smugly'!
Oooh, and 'mountebank'!
Who says the 91Èȱ¬ is dumbing down these days?!
[Not I. Anyone who doesn't like words is a...a...nincompoop. - Fraser]
"Cos this baby ain't got no back..."
This is my going-to-work-song - it's cheerful enough to put a smile on my face, even tho I know what hell awaits me...
I hope she releases "Light's Out" next, that's an absolutely lovely song.
you just fancy her.
i really like remi nicole, esp this song. I was impressed with her on the winehouse tour earlier in the year. She seems cool!
i am also wearing a shirt and tie, so perhaps i am a bit bizarre.........
this was the song that stuck in my head most and glad it got released, as i prefer it to go mr sunshine. i would like to know where she gets her shirts from as well......
and oh yes, ballroom blitz kicks ass! love the original and have nostalgic love for the tia carrea(sp?) cover from waynes world!
Well I finally dug my promo out of the "what the hell were the PR company thinking sending this to me pile" and, basically, it's a sweet melody with an amusing lyric that doesn't really stand up to the pressure of repeated plays.
But I've heard a lot worse.
And you're very welcome viz* mountebank - one of my favoured terms of abuse.
* as we're in educational mode, an abbreviation of videlicet, Latin for "one may see; clearly, evidently", used today as a synonym** of namely or precisely.
**a word having the same or almost the same meaning as some other. In English many synonyms are caused by the mixture of Norman French and English words, often with some words associated with the Saxon countryside and synonyms with the Norman nobility.
[enough, already]
Hi! I Just wanted to say that I love this song, it's REALLY catchy. And it's not supposed to be rock n roll - it's ABOUT rock n roll.