IN the eternal rock v pop battle, Girls Aloud strike a killer blow for the pop camp.

Thanks to the genius of production team Xenomania, the cheeky chav queens have assembled a fine selection of three-and-a-half minute electro-pop songs with appeal to indie kids and dance fans. Listen and learn, ex-Spice Girls.

If you thought The Show and Love Machine were great, there are better songs still.

Wake Me Up, Graffiti My Soul and Here We Go could all make number one, mixing Blondie, U2 and Ladytron, with tongue-in-cheek lyrics such as "Your vice like grip/On my sherbert dip". Even the ballads - aside from the bland cover of I'll Stand By You - are well-executed. What will the neighbours say? Turn it up. Loud.

Updated: 10:52 Thursday, December 02, 2004