Youthful, dance-tinged pop continues as the flavour du jour in the British charts. Billed by some as a "Christian Spice Girls," Shine MK belong more in the crowd of acts like S Club 7 and Steps who continue to seduce the pre-adolescent market which the Spice Girls appear to have lost. Borrowing their artwork from the logo of a UK television station, the girls have filled out their sound since their debut EP but it still appears to be missing an essential constituent.
The sound is sometimes reminiscent of some of the World Wide Message Tribe's poppier material, but Shine MK don't have the strength of personality that marks WWMT's best efforts. There are a few fairly infectious pop hooks, but they don't quite have the dynamic energy which is needed and the ballads lack substance. Plagiarism comes in more forms than just the artwork, with "Get a Life" sounding far too close to Britney Spears' "Crazy." While this may endear the band to their target audience when doing homework, it's a shame that there isn't more imagination in evidence.
The four girls share vocal duties and have fairly good voices for the material, but then so do most of the other singers peddling this sort of material. There is almost certainly an audience for Shine MK and a place for them on Christian radio. Perhaps next time we could hear something more convincing.
1.5 tocks
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