In case you haven’t heard, Girls Can’t Catch were dropped.
While I was admittedly critical of the girls when they first launched last year (the name was never going to be okay in my eyes), “Keep Your Head Up” was a solid grower along with “Echo,” and the songs that I’d heard from their recently leaked album samplers were pretty good, generally speaking.
Please do yourselves a favor and head over to PopJustice to read an honest, thoughtful reflection on the incredibly short lived project.
Most striking to me was this point, which truly nailed the frustration I sometimes feel with the pop industry and fan forums:
Not every artist can be Girls Aloud or Lady Gaga, nor SHOULD every artist do what those acts have done. Girls Cant Catch were just a pop group, and their songs were just pop songs. And really, that’s fine. Pop doesn’t always need to smash boundaries. Here’s the news: if you only enjoy pop music that breaks pop’s boundaries, you are not really a pop fan.
To me, there’s a serious misconception that if pop music isn’t groundbreaking or high charting, it isn’t very good–which simply isn’t the case.
Let’s face it: Some of my favorite artists–Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Saturdays, Rachel Stevens, and even Dannii Minogue–are very real examples near and dear to my heart that aren’t exactly known for breaking down the walls of pop or making waves in the singles charts, but that doesn’t mean they’re not brilliant pop stars in my eyes.
We all know who the major titans of pop are, and we celebrate and appreciate their music every day. I’m not suggesting we should embrace mediocrity, but what’s wrong with simply enjoying pop for pop’s sake?