Sunday 4 September 2011

1998 Aqua: Dr Jones

Second number one from a band that seem to come stamped with a 'One Hit Wonder' hallmark, 'Dr Jones' doesn't have the (admittedly tenuous) virtue of satire of 'Barbie Girl', but then it has little of the irritation either, save for René Dif's deadpan vocal interruptions (that always give Aqua the feel of a pre-school Sugarcubes).* But it's all part of the fun eh? Which is what Aqua were all about. There's an inbuilt good humour to 'Dr Jones' that steers it away from the shores of annoyance and puts a smile on my face. Because for all it's simplicity, there's a keen eyed craft at work here no less than there was on (for example) 'Sugar Sugar'. Oh yes, I'm well aware that it's easy enough to dismiss both with one wave of the same hand, but I'm happy to accept 'Dr Jones' for what it is; good pop.

* Though the video did try to get another gimmick going by tying in the titular 'Dr' with Indiana Jones. Which gave new meaning to the word 'tenuous'.


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