Thursday 05/05/05 The Pipettes @ LSE, London

Trotting onstage in matching polka-dot mini-dresses, these high-stepping, arm-whirling purveyors of Phil Spectre-soaked 60’s soul look ready to entertain the student hordes. The Pipettes – three rather sassy lasses from Brighton – begin to bop, swing and, if I’m not mistaken, hand-jive to some instantly catchy flashes of candy store pop. It’s obvious from the outset that this prim threesome don’t just want to ‘be your baby’, or indeed ‘love you tomorrow’. The naughtiness of songs like ‘Dirty Mind’ and ‘One Night Stand’ are veiled beneath some poptastic vocal arrangements and naggingly good choruses.

The Pipettes take The Ronettes’ peck-on-the-cheek doo-wopping and add sauce, wit and teenage cheek. Tonight, they dance like half-cut Supremes, sing in honey-dewed harmony and split the crowd straight down the middle. There’ll be those who’ll fall at their feet in doe-eyed wonder and those who believe they should be banished to the naff extras of a Grease DVD. Naughty, but nice.