Girls Aloud "Tangled Up"

They spawned from a UK reality show entitled Popstars: The Rivals, in which two pop groups -- one male, one female -- were formed by popular vote then set against each other in a sales battle royale to determine which one would get the full record contract. And yet somehow, ultimate victors Girls Aloud don't totally suck. Quite the contrary, they remain one of Britain's most consistently surprising and entertaining musical exports, even six years after their questionable formation.

However, despite all that members Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding bring to the proceedings, the real reason for the group's continued success -- both commercially and critically -- is the somewhat mysterious production house known as Xenomania. Led by Brian Higgins, Xenomania thrills in exploring new sonic avenues with every record they make, and their thorough control of the Girls' fourth studio album, "Tangled Up," lends it a subtly experimental and progressive edge that's generally very rare in straightforward pop music.

Take first single Sexy! No No No..., which opens with an oddly layered vocal echo effect and little else before launching into a pounding, frenetic beat laced with quirky sound effects and continuing the lyric with a call-and-response chorus before finally hitting the first verse. So strange was it that it left even some die-hard fans balking but is in fact the single that really put them over the top for me. Made me realize that G.A. may just be the bee's knees.

So I pre-ordered an import of "Tangled" and when I finally got the chance to slip it into my stereo, it dizzily, ecstatically delivered on the promise of that single and left me pleasantly surprised at every turn, if not dancing, in whatever weird way that presents itself through my uncoordinated body.

Opener and second single Call the Shots is a glorious mid-tempo ballad that puts a G.A. spin on a dying relationship with interesting, original lyrics and a keyboard-driven sound that's as entrancing as it is ultimately affecting. Close to Love is a killer dance joint with an even freakier beat and enough nifty sound effects to make every listen as fun as it is revelatory. And on top of all that is another fantastic hook with memorable wording: "Got so close to love, I can almost taste the kill."

And, not to take anything away from this fantastic set of songs, but the same could really said about the majority of them: they have interesting, diverse sounds and killer hooks. Xenomania draw from a wide range of influences and yet their jumble of sound never comes across as such. It's inspired and even intellectually stimulating, always holding a listener's attention without wearing their senses down.

...Until the end of the record, where good but comparably lesser songs like Damn and Crocodile Tears are buried. Even as the weaker entries, they still hold up better than the even the strongest entries on most records in this genre (I'm looking at you, Pussycat Dolls).

As for the actual Girls themselves, they are actually invaluable to the whole process, even if their input is relatively limited in a lot of ways. Whatever blenders or layering Xenomania puts their voices through, they all come through crystal clear and are beautiful instruments. In addition, these women (who currently range in age from 22-26) just get what the producers are trying to accomplish. They know how to sell everything from bitchy one-liners to glamorous posturing to heartbroken remorse. Despite the set-up of it all, they are more than just mere puppets.

In fact, Girls Aloud are the kind of group who inspire a kind of confidence in pop music's ability to still surprise and even amaze you. As well, most of their back catalogue has held up remarkably well, with too many standouts to list in this space.

"Tangled Up" was released overseas last November and more than a few savvy U.S. music connoisseurs have already caught on, with only the rest of the States left to discover the joy that lies beyond the moniker, even if it is "just" pop music...that happens to exist as the result of a reality show. Whatever. As Girls Aloud proudly state on their MySpace, " If you know someone who sounds like us, we’ll give you a tenner. If you like someone better than us, frankly, we don’t care."

Well, how can you top that for a sassy sales pitch?
A-

Download: Sexy! No No No..., Call the Shots, Close to Love...basically the first eight tracks. I mean, for real.

Avoid: Damn, Crocodile Tears