Just to clear things up, the Veronicas are twin sisters from Brisbane, Australia, and have nothing to do with Archie Comics' raven-haired rich-girl Veronica Lodge or teen TV sleuth Veronica Mars.In fact, neither of them is even named Veronica, nor do they know anyone with the name, all of which kind of begs the question: Why go with "the Veronicas" anyway?
"The name is something we thought about for a long time, and we wanted it to be a girl's name, but we didn't want it to be 'the Jesses,' " guitarist Jess Origliasso laughed. "We were very conscious of not wanting to make it a twin thing, because we think that's really tacky."
"We didn't want it to be called 'the Lisas,' either," singer Lisa Origliasso added. "So one day we saw the movie 'Heathers,' and there's a line where one girl asks, 'Are you a Heather?' and Winona Ryder's character answers, 'No, I'm a Veronica,' and so we went with that, because she was this kind of cool, unique chick with an attitude."
And attitude is one thing the Veronicas have in spades. At the age of 5, the Origliasso sisters enrolled in an after-school musical theatre club, but after a few years of toiling away in low-budget revues of "Godspell" and "Hair," they ditched the club and decided to get serious. They took private voice lessons and for the next several years put in time playing gigs in Brisbane and around Australia's Gold Coast
"We were getting tired of just doing nothing, and we figured that there was no better way to get experience than getting out there in front of people when you're that young," Jess said. "We were just kind of thrust out there and forced to make it
By the time they were 14, the sisters were playing covers of Elvis and Roy Orbison tunes, and making an honest-to-goodness living on the Australian festival circuit. And when Jess got a guitar for her 18th birthday, the Veronicas began banging out original songs, brief three-chord blurts that eventually found their way into the right hands. By the time they were 19, the Origliasso sisters had signed Engine Room, the Australian production team responsible for making the Vines bright (yet fleeting) international stars.
"They take Australian talent overseas, develop it and try to get a major label to pick them up," Lisa explained. "So we were really lucky to sign with them. They sent us over the top."
Or, more precisely, they sent them all around the world, to work with pop maestros like Sweden's Max Martin (Britney Spears, 'NSYNC) and Germany's Toby Gad (Milli Vanilli, Enrique Iglesias). And, after a year on the road, the Veronicas returned home with more than 60 songs and a contract with Sire Records.
Now, having just turned 20, they're prepping their debut album, The Secret Life of ... the Veronicas, a slippery, shiny mix of angsty lyrics and guitar solos, and they've just been tapped by Calvin Klein to be the faces of the designer's fall fashion campaign. It's the beginning stages of a full-fledged rock-and-roll invasion, and it's a whole lot cooler than anything their friends back in Brisbane are currently up to.
"We used to be jealous of all our friends who were just taking it easy while we were rehearsing and stuff," Lisa said. "But now were playing gigs while they're working at Mackey's."
"They don't say 'Mackey's' over here," Jess pointed out.
"Oh, right. Sorry. 'Mackey's' is Micky D's, McDonald's," Lisa laughed. "Sorry about that. That was my Australianess coming out."
There is an old cliché phrase I was once taught that said: “If you go into something thinking it’s going to be bad, then it’s going to be bad. However, if you go into something with a positive attitude, then it will turn out well”. I would now like to condemn whoever it was that taught me this. On the back of the highly infectious title track/lead single, I was genuinely excited for the new album from former tween sensations The Veronicas, Hook Me Up. With any luck it wouldn’t be like their previous effort, The Secret Life Of…, which became incredibly lacklustre after the first four tracks (all of which, must be pointed out, were commercially released singles).
So, upon listening to the album, the questions have to be put. Is the album better than its predecessor? The answer is yes. Does it feature a new sound and direction for the Orglissano twins? Yes again. But have the Veronicas made a great album because of this? Sadly, no. Far from it. Hook Me Up is a disappointing album, filled with half-baked ideas and ignoring its potential to be a great pop album- or, even, a great dance album.
“Untouched” is an admittedly great opening track, featuring everything that is good about this album. A bizarre alt-pop wave of synths, string section sampling and dissonant guitar, with motor-mouth vocals in the verse, leading up to a great hook in the chorus. This fades out and right into “Hook Me Up”, the lead single and easily the best song on the album. At first, chances are you may not like it (I know that when I first heard it, I hated it). But the best thing about this song is how damn infectious it is, thus making it an excellent pop song with top harmonies and a synth hook Hellogoodbye would be envious of. The one-two punch of this song and the title track prove how good this album could have been. Unfortunately, it’s mostly downhill from here.
The next two tracks either suffer from trying to be too much at once (“This Is How It Feels”), and generally not going anywhere (“This Love”). It’s certainly a departure from the guitar pop-rock of their previous album, but it appears not all change is good in this case. As the album progresses from here, you can’t help but get the feeling that the band really need to pull a rabbit out of their hat. And while they certainly come close to it- “I Can’t Stay Away” features some lively beats, and “All I Have” features come catchy moments, live drums (exactly what this album needed more of), and some very cool use of a vocoder- but there is just too much filler and lazy song writing. Songs like “I Don’t Wanna Wait” and “In Another Life” both have great potential, but the best parts of the song aren’t furthered to make for a better overall.
And then there’s “Popular”- what can be said about this one? Basically, if Peaches went out and got completely hammered with Princess Superstar and they managed to have some kind of inbred lovechild with “Best Damn Thing”-era Avril Lavigne as the midwife, it would probably come out sounding something like this. And believe me, this is definitely not a compliment. Talking about the song, the girls say that the song is “taking the piss out of famous people”. However, in a similar vein to Good Charlotte atrocity “I Just Wanna Live”, you simply cannot tell and it comes off as vain and cheap.
It’s good that, at the very least, the Veronicas have gone for something different from the pop market at the moment. But it’s a bitter letdown that, even after all this change, most of the songs just aren’t very good. Not even the fantastic single can save this one. A pity, really, given how good this album could have been.
For fans only- though chances are you may not be much of a fan after this record, even if you were before.
Tracklist:
1. Untouched
2. Hook Me Up
3. This Is How It Feels
4. This Love
5. I Can't Stay Away
6. Take Me On The Floor
7. I Don't Wanna Wait
8. Popular
9. Revenge Is Sweeter Than You Ever Were
10. Someone Wake Me Up
11. All I Have
12. In Another Life
Release Date: 11/03/2007
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