Girls Aloud: 'Call The Shots'

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It's tricky album number four for the uber-pop minxes that are Cheryl, Nadine, Kimberley, Sarah and the other one. For any pop group there's a shelf life, and three LPs topped off by a record company cherry of a greatest hits collection is more than the average boyband gets. So when the girls returned with another slice of kinky paraphernalia with 'Sexy, No, No, No' earlier this year it came as a bit of a shock. How long can five reality TV stars survive without their egos colliding and the temptation of solo careers sending the group into a messy split with News Of The World confessionals and public catfights down Chinawhites?

Well, unfortunately it looks like we're going to have to wait a tad longer for the catty "Cheryl was a slag" red-top headlines. 'Call The Shots' is the second release from their forthcoming Tangled Up record and it fits like a glove on their long list of mega-chart-hogging hits. 'Sound Of The Underground', 'No Good Advice', 'Biology', 'Something Kinda Ooh', and you can now add this to the list as well. Smooth, sleek and saucier than a whole supermarket aisle of Heinz Ketchup, the single's based around a tinny early '90s dance beat and the girls' echoing "oohs" and "ah ah ahs" that reverberate around an infectious chorus. It's more tasteful than some of the more lurid, poke-you-in-the-eyes pop glories of previous hits and is an enticing teaser for the new album.