CD review Sugababes: Three (From Barry And District News)

CD review Sugababes: Three

THEY MAY not be the archetypal girl band. The Sugababes pile on the lip gloss and heavy eye-liner, but they still lack that polished elegance most other female pop acts carry.

But they can co-write some really catchy tunes and the 14 tracks on Three show that in spades.

The first single to be released off their new album, 'Hole In The Head' shot straight to number one in the charts, and rightly so. The up-beat entry was one in the eye for errant boyfriends. And the rest of the album follows suit.

Mutya Buena, Heidi Range and Keisha Buchanan form the multi-racial band, and they have teamed up with some big names in the music industry to pen these lyrics. For example, music connoisseurs will get a blast from the past when they find out Nasty Ghetto's bluesy, back-street sound was co-penned with Linda Perry from 4 Non Blondes.

The song birds are still quite young, and luckily, some of their lyrics show that they haven't forgotten this. 'Buster' is an amusing track. Its R&B style doesn't hide the humour of a sassy girl giving a nightclub Romeo the brush-off.

The girls seem intent on saving their energy, and never put too much effort into their performances. But that is part of their charm, and undoubtedly they will return with a fourth album - perhaps unlike many of their shinier counterparts!