It Really Doesn't Faze Me How You Spend Your Time

You know how sometimes it's Friday, you are getting ready to go out clubbing, the champagne is chilled and the coke is cut on the mirror, you look at your CD collection and you can't find a single uplifting, fun album to play? You want one dance song after another, with no ballads or cheap covers in between; you want songs that will later play in your head, as you and your friends make your way through the city, the hope of a great night still in your heart. Fear no more; Girls Aloud's Tangled Up exists.

The album opens and closes with two of its most mainstream and soft pop songs - current single Call the Shots, and Crocodile Tears. In between, there's a mesh of genres underneath the hooks - from pseudo-jungle to 60s girl rock; 80s house to powerpop. References to long forgotten girl bands are sprinkled along the way. Remember 90s band Shampoo? Black Jacks could have been one of their singles. And even the Spice Girls' influence can be felt, especially in Close to Love (though the Spice Girls should have been so lucky to have this great song under their clown costume belts.)

The album's first single, Sexy! No No No, came out a few months ago and, shock horror!, Girls Aloud actually co-wrote it! Can you escape its brain-drilling power? No, No, No. Can you stop yourself from playing the album on repeat? No, No, No. Do you feel ashamed when your boyfriend comes home and says you have joined the 6-year-old consumer demographic? No, No, No. Does this mean I'll suddenly start buying albums from X Factor contestants? NO, NO, NO. Sometimes, it's OK to enjoy a bit of (organic) bacon even if you are a vegetarian; and sometimes it's OK to indulge in pop that is so supreme and energetic it makes Madonna's best efforts sound like sing-alongs at the local geriatric unit.

Like a kid allergic to everything, I'm stepping into Girls Aloud's pop bubble and letting them protect me from the world... until the next brilliant pop album comes along.