Mini Viva - 'I Left My Heart In Tokyo'
As much as I'm trying not to start a review by talking about my personal life AGAIN, I promise you this time it's actually relevant. Well, ish. I've just got back from a lovely holiday in which I spent an awful lot of time in my car, and while doing so spent a lot of time with the radio on.
Over the course of the week there were several songs I heard over and over again, and it left quite an impact on me - I fell utterly in love with Little Boots' 'Remedy' and invented a new game called "guess how long I can tolerate the new Mika single before switching stations in despair". But most importantly, it left me with this particular song locked indefinitely on my internal jukebox.
(. This is no way to find anything you have lost in Tokyo.)
It doesn't take a genius to detect the guiding hand of Xenomania behind all this - the exuberant tempo, the abundance of sass, the prioritising of the chorus above all else, the lyrics that make less sense the more you think about them - but I get the feeling that Mini Viva (is it just me, or does that sound like it should be the name of an ice lolly?) are more than just a couple of pop puppets, even if they do occasionally dance like the Reynolds Girls (ask your mum).
And there's a really good reason for this: What sets this apart from other generic acts of dance-pop (and please note here, I'm not using 'generic' as a slur on the music itself, I just mean the sort of songs that you hear on the radio and you can't for the life of you figure out if you're listening to Cascada or Booty Luv or The Saturdays) is the infectious energy that singers Frankee and Britt bring to it: whether it's snarling out the verses, purring the bridge, or vamping the chorus, I can't help thinking that recording this single sounds like it was a lot of fun, and it's the sort of fun that they're generously passing on to all of our ears.
It's as though we're actually expected to join in somehow and start sassing along wherever we happen to be, or we'll be sent home like the party poopers that we are. I've got high hopes for these two, let's just hope that future singles live up to the lofty standards they've set themselves, for the sake of holiday car travellers everywhere.
Download: Out now
CD Released: September 7th
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Music page
(Steve Perkins)
Comment number 1.
At 4th Sep 2009, keithfusco wrote:I'd rather Jack, than Viva Mac.
Actually, I wouldn't. I couldn't jack to save my life, tbh.
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Comment number 2.
At 4th Sep 2009, BloggingLiam wrote:I do quite like this song. Cant remember what it rips off though.. maybe I just heard it ages ago..
I love the lines - "fell utterly in love with Little Boots' 'Remedy' and invented a new game called "guess how long I can tolerate the new Mika single before switching stations in despair"."
Im glad you too have fallen for Miss. Boot's charm and hate that tripe Mika's churned out! Nice one.
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Comment number 3.
At 5th Sep 2009, spirit wrote:Fantastic pop song .
A lot of people will like this .
A top ten hit !
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