Sugababes become ball-breakers in their latest video for the new single, No Can Do. Or is it just an excuse for a gratuitous display of man-flesh?

For this latest single, the girls are seen using various man-sculptures using a troupe of well-toned himbos, and making me feel even worse about my waistline. Grrr. It’s a novel concept for a pop video, however, but the bit with the guys with lampshades on their heads veers the video into freaky territory, doesn’t it?

As for the song, No Can Do will remind you of the Jackson 5’s ABC in places, so there’s a familiarity about the track from the get-go. However, the temptation is there to roundly slate the Sugababes for releasing a rather bland bit of pop fodder.

Special credit goes out to the usually-reviled Amelle for a pretty sexy vocal performance on this track. Have a listen to her on the first verse, and you can see she’s actually got a great voice.

Still, one can’t help thinking it would be nice to see the girls getting back to the cutting edge pop of a few years back. Having gone through so many line-up changes, the girls seem to be floundering for an identity at the moment. Bottom line: No Can Do just isn’t lighting my fire.

I’ve been watching something brewing in the Sugababes camp for a few days.

If my radar is correct, Keisha and chums are growing unhappy that Girls Aloud are beating them out in the popularity stakes.

A number of articles and interviews have cited the Sugababes girls as:

• being dissatisfied with album sales for their latest record, Catfights And Spotlights
• feeling the record company haven’t promoted the album well.
• criticising Girls Aloud for owing more to the cult of celebrity than to superior songwriting.

Now, considering the two groups recorded a Children In Need single together and they both owe a debt to Xenomania for songwriting and production talent, it’s a bit rich them rounding on Girls Aloud right now.

My best guess is that they’re possibly hoping for a tabloid-style war of words to draw more attention to themselves. On one  hand, the Sugababes are telling the world they’re all about the songwriting and serious music. But on the other, they’re saying that titillating photos = better record sales?

Methinks the Sugababes ladies need to go away and learn a few things about being consistent.

Apparently, Kiesha Buchannon has hinted that the Sugababes might be up for some raunchier photo sessions now that they’re older.

This is kind of the opposite of other acts who start out flashing the flesh and then decide to cover up so their music will be taken more seriously.

Apparently they have said to The Sun

We have never wanted to be seen as a band who sold themselves on doing raunchy photoshoots. First of all we were too young. I wanted for us to wait for us to be older, but now people know our music, it’s definitely something to do more of. We’re looking into sexier shoots.

We’re not going to do the whole legs spread thing! I don’t think anyone wants to see our bits. We’ll do something tasteful but it will see a new image from us.

Now, technically I have no problem with girl groups flaunting themselves a little. After all, sex sells, especially in the music biz.

But it’s hard to see this as the continuing fall of the Sugababes. When they first came out, they were edgy, funky and serious about their music. These days, they’re pumping out generic pop tunes that are nowhere near the innovative urban pop they started off with.

It remains to be seen what they come off with, but – and I feel so old just saying this – they should remain three pretty girls, not the stuff of lad’s mags. That’s just not how I see this group.

It may be worth noting, dear reader, that the title is not Here Come The Girls. It is merely Girls. Very minimalist.

And although the Sugababes only released their fifth album (Change) last October, this new single is from their forthcoming sixth album. Entitled Catfights And Spotlights. That should scotch any more rumours of the trio breaking up for a while at least!

Now – on to Girls. It’s not often you get a pop group ruthlessly ripping off songs from adverts. Normally it works the other way round, doesn’t it? Song becomes famous, advertisers queue up to play it over pictures of their product.

There’s a major criticism that the ‘babes are borrowing heavily from the Ronson-style brass-sections-du-jour, and contributing nothing original. That’s fair, but at least Girls has a bit more kick than anything they released off the last album. In fact, judging on the video, it’s straying into stripper music country.

Priya Elan, writing for The Guardian, suggests that the group have lost their way and questions whether the talent Sugababes have already left the building:

Where [is] the Numan splice-up of Freak Like Me, or the poised pop of Overload? But by now they seemed more concerned with their range of Mattel dolls and their brand of shoes. Certainly the music that former members Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy made after their departures from the group, suggests that they took the creative spark with them.

But what do you think folks? Are the Sugababes on a downward spiral, or is Girls just a great track to dance around yer handbag to down the local disco?

Girls is the first single from the Sugababes sixth album, Catfights And Spotlights and is released on 6 October.

Remember, if you haven’t voted yet, pleace your vote now – and you can add other groups to the list if you want to suggest another group.

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The Sugababes are one of the most enduring girl groups we’ve ever seen in the UK. They started their chart careers back in 2000 as glum-faced teens, but with a surprisingly fresh urban sound that was more interesting that the kind of pop Atomic Kitten were flogging at the time.

There’s always been a cloud of bitchiness hanging over the group and this has brought about two personnel changes leading to the departures of original members Siobhan Donaghy and Mutya Buena. However, the Sugababes have always managed to reinvent themselves with each new album.

These days, of course, they’re a very slick pop act. There’s no denying that. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what we think are the best ever Sugababes songs.

1. Ugly – Our favourite Sugababes song of all time, Ugly is a sweet pop song that talks about growing up and feeling unattractive, but gradually realising that inner beauty is important too. It’s a real nice message that their teenage fanbase could easily relate to. It’s the Sugababes’ answer to Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful.
2. Overload – Their debut single showed three very nervous girls singing this awesome song. Overload has such a great beat and the tension in the lyrics and the music makes this a classic Sugababes track.
3. Soul Sound – Another track from the Sugababes’ One Touch album, it continues in the same sparse style as Overload. Where it differs is that there’s more vocal interplay between the girls and you really get an idea of what this group are capable of.
4. Freak Like Me – This song marks the dramatic change in style the Sugababes underwent for their second album. A collaboration with the hot producer of the day, Richard X, it was the girls’ first number one single. Freak is such a good song, it still sounds fresh today.
5. Round Round – This song followed hot on the heels of Freak Like Me, and gave the girls their second number one single. Very much in the same vein as its predecessor, Round Round may have aged slightly less well, or perhaps it’s been overplayed a little too much.
6. Hole In The Head – This has got to be one of the Sugababes most overlooked songs. It’s probably one of their best floor-fillers, and has a pretty scathing anti-male lyric. That’s the thing with the Sugababes – you never know when they’re being sexy and when they’re about to castrate you. With Hole In The Head you walk away checking your groin to make sure everything’s still there.
7. Push The Button – Another about turn stylistically. Sure, it didn’t stray far from the ‘pop’ formula, but this was the girls getting raunchy as evidenced by a scorching hot music video. The kind of music video the missus won’t let you watch in front of the kids. Or – indeed – her.
8. About You Now – From the latest album, About You Now was the lead single. Although Change features some of the Sugababes’ less memorable songs, About You Now is more mainstream pop than we’re used to from the Sugababes but a top song nonetheless.
9. Too Lost In You – A definitive Sugababes ballad, Too Lost In You sees them put away their claws for about 4 minutes to declare undying love for some nameless bloke (me, actually). The forlorn vocals are evocative of their early style – sparse beats and melancholy vocal harmonies.
10. Stronger – Considered one of the best ever Sugababes songs, Stronger is another brooding ballad. It has a lot in common with Too Lost, which came along on their third album. An epic tale of someone rebounding from a broken heart. Knowing the Sugababes though, they’ll have cut up all his clothes and set the alsatian on him.

That’s our top ten Sugababes singles listed for your comfort and convenience. Have we left anything out or rated something too low? Let us know in the comments.

OK, can we get the kiddie jokes about Denial being a river in Egypt out of the way right now? You’re all a bunch of big kids really…

OK, so we’ve hit the third single from the Sugababes’ Change album. It’s been confusing for the record buying public who aren’t sure now if the Sugababes are a pop group or a travelling fashion show. Certainly, between the videos for Change and Denial, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they were on the verge of launching a fashion range.

It all harks back to the Red Dress video, and since then the ‘babes have been all hands-on-hips and voguing through every video.

Which leads me neatly on to the poor standard of Denial. Dear lord this is woeful drivel, and anyone who says otherwise would probably claim the emperor was wearing a nice suit during that parade the other day.

Now, I have no objection to Kiesha and Heidi flashing their body parts at me through the TV screen. But I insist on having a decent backing track to listen to at the same time. And that’s the problem – style over substance. The Sugababes are losing the originality and spark that I loved about them in the first place. Have I used the word ‘dull’ to describe this? Because it’s the dullest track I’ve heard in a long time – totally forgettable.

Why? Well pop-fans, it’s because her boyfriend Freddie Fuller suffered a machete attack on Christmas Eve. It’s not the first time Freddie’s been in trouble and caused some negative press for Amelle – last year he was accused of raping her sister.

It’s well known that the Sugababes are not the most loyal girl group, given the unclear circumstances under which original members Siobhan Donaghy and Mutya Buena left.

So it isn’t a big leap to imagine that Amelle’s job might be on the line as the stress starts to affect her performances. She apparently had her microphone turned down at the New Year gig they played at the O2 Arena with Take That.

I’ve always maintained that Amelle isn’t crucial to the success of the group, that she’s basically there to make up the numbers. But it must be a strange point in the lunar cycle or something because I’d feel sorry for her if she got booted out because of this.

Yikes, compassion. What next?

The Sugababes return with About You Now, the first single from their new album Changes and their sixth number one hit.

Although About You Now retains a little bit of the electronic fuzz that has dominated their previous hits, it’s a much more straightforward pop song than we’re used to.

PopJustice claimed that this was the best Sugababes single since Round Round, but we think that may be overselling the song slightly. Actually, a lot. It’s a good song, but definitely not on that calibre.

One thing though: We can hear overtones of A-ha’s Take On Me in that driving rhythm. It’d be great to hear a mashup of the two tunes. If anyone turns a version of this up, let us know!

This, and Mutya’s last single will have critics wondering whether Sugababes have lost a key member. Let’s face it, with the electronic fuzz that dominates this single and the disco-pop sensibilities could have been a natural follow-on from the Sugababes’ Freak Like Me.

There’s even an inference in the lyrics of a possible spat between Mutya and her Sugababes replacement, Amelle Berrabah:

Sat there with some new girl what is this!
Dont panic panic Mutya, dont drive erratic. Hey!
That?s who has replaced me? What a diss!
Dont panic panic, dont act to manic manic!

Funny thing is, while Kiesha, Heidi and the other one are still relying very much on their feminine charms, you can see a musical and stylistic maturity with Mutya.

I wasn’t much of a fan of Mutya in the early days, but lately she’s impressed by working with some sharp writers and producers. Song 4 Mutya gets a massive thumbs up!