Get ready for the Ess Ohh VEE!! Or rather, get ready to be slightly disappointed. Because whilst ‘9 to 5’ isn’t bad, per se, it’s hardly of the standard you’d expect from Lady Sovereign, the two-step tyke who brought you the burly brilliance of ‘Random’, ‘Ch-Ching’ et al. She seems to be trying to make a 21st century version of The Specials’ ‘Rat Race’ for the McFlurry generation, all lilting offbeat organ stabs and placid horn section, with her whining about the music biz over the top. Instead, it comes across like UB40 trying to cover Basement Jaxx (badly) and with lines like “I’m getting pissed like Pampers” it’s hardly her greatest lyrical performance either. There’s also a “Na na na na etc.” melodic outro too…oh dear. Sort it aaaht!!
However, she is completely redeemed by B-side ‘Tango’, where she does what she does best lyrically – i.e. slag people off – and aims it at girls who wear too much fake tan. “The colour of your bathwater? ORANGE!!” she chants over a militant…uh, tango rhythm, the sort of thing you’d feel threatened by if you weren’t distractedly laughing so hard. “You tried to be Christina so you died your hair black / But really you look like the Vicar of Dibley…on crack.” Normal service is resumed, and hurrah for that.
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7Thomas Blatchford's Score