Bung’s 10 Favourite Girls Aloud songs.

I’ve always been a massive Girls Aloud fan, but it took my lengthy commutes to work this summer with nothing but my big-ass iPod for company to appreciate the full genius of their discography, rather than just dismissing them as a fun, disposable girl band.

Consequently, I decided to compile my personal top ten. I’ve given this a tremendous amount of thought, and narrowing it down wasn't easy, but I am finally ready to unleash the definitive list.

Because ten just isn’t enough for this insanely wonderful five-some: The Loving Kind, Watch Me Go, Graffiti My Soul, Here We Go, The Promise are just a handful of songs that just missed out.

10. She

The B-Side to The Promise, and, whilst the lead single itself is a terrifically cheery and feel-good song about falling in love despite all odds, She managed to turn my head even more. 

The production boasts one of the most overtly seductive beats in the entire Girls Aloud discography. The lyrics chart a predatory she-wolf and how she prowls, set to a combination of sultry verses and cheeky, rhythmic chanting.

Crucially, Nadine Coyle, who I’ve always believed to have the best voice in the band, gets to give her powerhouse pipes a proper showcase during the track's closing refrain. She completely nails the landidng; her delivery of “you in the middle, get your coat, let’s go!” manages to be both bossy and alluring.

09. No Good Advice

“Shut your mouth, because your shit might show” is one of the feistiest lyrics in pop history. It perfectly encapsulates the attitude of No Good Advice, a song which showed that Girls Aloud aren’t just like every other goody-goody girlband on the scene. It proved they possessed a genuine edge; one that routinely channels their inner rock stars. 

The delivery of the spirited lyrics are especially so from Nadine and Cheryl, who delivery ballsy vocal performances. Beneath their vocals, the funky, driving guitar riffs and syncopated drums perfectly complement the track's high-octane energy.

Essentially, it’s a song about rebelling about the (well-intentioned) things your parents say to you, and forge your own path. The segment where the girls reel off a rhythmic litany of constraints they can happily do without is absolute genius. 

08. Sound of the Underground

Cast your mind back to the era of Popstars: The Rivals. This was the debut single that saw the group decisively beat their male counterparts, One True Voice, to secure the coveted 2002 Christmas number one. Nearly a decade on, it has done far more than merely survive; it has stood the test of time

The surf-rock bassline wouldn’t be out of place in a Tomoyasu Hotei instrumental and the production boasts a wonderfully metallic, industrial beat. Paired with an instantly infectious vocal arrangement, where Nadine’s stellar delivery already hinted at the powerhouse vocalist she was destined to become, it remains pop heaven.

07. Fix Me Up

For a long time, this was my mobile ringtone, and certainly one of the catchiest (and bawdiest) entries in their catalogue. Essentially, it’s a frank anthem about sexual desire, but such is the vibrant cheekiness of the lyrics and the band’s delivery of them never feels cheap. Sarah Harding, perhaps construed as the most fun-loving of the band, unsurprisingly takes centre stage here. Backed by an infectious, horn-infused production, it operates as a funky, funny, and sits on the right side of provocative.

06. Control of the Knife

My favourite rendition of this track is easily from the Tangled Up tour, wherein Cheryl puts her exquisite dancing talent to good use by taking centre stage. The clever inclusion of the “trick me once, won't let you trick me twice” outro—which doesn’t feature on the studio album—is an ingenious mashup with Kelis's Trick Me. (see also: how they seamlessly integrated Rihanna’s Disturbia in Sexy! No No No… in the Out of Control tour). 

With an intrepid foray into the worlds of reggae and ska, Control of the Knife is a mish-mash of musical textures, perfectly topped off with a great horn solo. It beautifully illustrates a core tenet of the Xenomania era: that the sonic landscape created by the instruments and producers is often just as integral to the magic as Girls Aloud themselves.

05. Something Kinda Ooh

Something Kinda Ooh, which receives my vote for the group's most alluring music video, is a masterclass in high-tempo pop energy. The music vid has had me repeatedly questioning my sexuality (the silhouettes! The cars! The skimpy outfits!) over the years, and the track is easily the best one to dance to on nights out and in the cheese rooms in Oceana. 

The adrenaline-pumped bass, the driving guitar riffs, and Nadine Coyle’s rhythmic, rapid-fire delivery all converge to create a timeless club anthem. I still get insanely happy when I hear the girls’ voices chanting “I GOT TO HEAT IT UP, GOTTA, GOTTA HEAT IT UP.”

04. Call the Shots

One of my favourite songs to listen to whenever I’m vexed with men, I really dig its message of emotional resilience and refusing to bow to their petty games. The ooh-ing and aah-ing give the song a little added spice, while the backing track boasts a driving synth-pop rhythm that wouldn't look out of place in a late-nineties nightclub, giving the entire production a wonderfully nostalgic warmth.

The poignant line “I won’t cry because I’ve stumbled through this far” showcases a mature, vulnerable side to the group that was perhaps less evident during their early bubblegum-pop years. Overall, the whole package is just a wonderfully bittersweet and elegant affair.

03. Can’t Speak French

“Not that one!” my workmate exclaimed when I finally unveiled my list to her. Admittedly Can’t Speak French is far from being one of the deepest songs ever written, despite being extremely re-playable and featuring a music video that makes a playful nod to the Marie-Antoinette lifestyle of gorgeous costumes and hedonistic lifestyles.

But by keeping it simple, I find Can’t Speak French easy to bop along to and connect with. The underlying theme that often, it is difficult to convey the depth of our emotions through words, so we let our actions do the talking, is brilliant in its simplicity. Plus Cheryl’s “I gotta let you know” refrain contains what is quite possibly her strongest, most resonant vocal work; I think it’s absolutely lovely.

02. Untouchable

When I initially encountered this song, I found its avant-garde production and sprawling runtime to be off-putting. Thankfully, I came to my senses, and recognised te song for what it really was: pure poetry. Lyrically, I feel this is Girls Aloud’s most beautiful song. 

Clocking in at just under seven minutes long, the group take its sweet time with this one, building one of the most texturally ambitious and atmospheric soundscapes of the Xenomania era. But the gamble pays off. Moving, deep, and deeply elegant, Untouchable shows that Girls Aloud don’t have to be loud to be brilliant. While the underlying tone carries a distinct melancholy, but I also get a strange sense of uplift whenever I hear it too, an emotional duality that's the hallmark of a good piece of art. 

Plus there is one line in it that never fails to give me shivers: Nadine’s stunning delivery of “Without any meaning, we’re just skin and bone, like beautiful robots dancing alone”. To me,  that couplet reads like Blake or Keats reimagined for the 21st century. Sublime.

01. Sexy! No No No…

In short, complete and utter musicalling genius. Although I still find the music video unnerving, I simply cannot resist the sultry, empowering swagger of this song. The bassline and guitar riffs are terrific, delivering raw, electronic electropunk energy.

A highlight is Nicola Roberts fiercely hollering “from top to bottom I’m a woman, sunshine”, which easily takes my vote for the best delivery of a lyric within the band. It sits alongside countless other iconic lines which I quote on a daily basis, “Did you ever think that loving would be nothing more than walking me home?” and “I’ll give you nothing ‘til you show me something”.

Lyrically, it reads as a manifesto of female autonomy, are generally of telling women not to compromise on their standards, or give away her affection too freely, thus inviting a man “chase” her, which, I approve 100% of. Structurally, the song is a brilliant anomaly. It doesn't have the conventional chorus, bridge and verse, choosing instead to weld three distinct fragments into a single, cohesive wall of sound and for that. It jarred when I first heard it, but on repeat listening, I was hooked.

Topped off with a bass which samples Hair of the Dog and tonnes of  guitar distortion, Sexy! No No No… is a monumental pop achievement. Whether it be to dance to, sing to at the top of your lungs, or feel like a woman to (another song that fulfils this latter function, is Portishead’s Glory Box), and there will never, ever, be anything like it. 

Perfection? Hell yes.

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