This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
A London teenybopper, a book of self-penned poetry and a John Barry soundtrack album. It all may sound harmless, but don’t be fooled — if you can combine them exactly right, you could take over the world.
Bend an ear to the addictively sweet debut from Death by Chocolate if you doubt my word. Deadpan teenage vocalist Angie Tillett personifies the first item on the aforementioned list. Her homework-assignment lyrics and free-association spoken-word rhymes — “A is for Aeolian, or Aeolius, part of Asia Minor colonized by Greeks / B is for bugle, a kind of creeping plant with blue flowers” — are the second ingredient. The swinging ’60s organ-pop and groovy covers (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore novelties like L.S. Bumblebee, Cat Stevens’ If You Want to Sing Out Sing Out) pull it all together into a catchy, kitschy collection that’s a ready-made soundtrack for a remake of The World of Henry Orient. You’ve heard of Girlschool. Meet Schoolgirl. She’s gonna rock your world.
