Mis-Teeq: Lickin' On Both Sides

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * *)

Having made an impression on local radio over summer with the track One Night Stand, the English trio of Su-Elise Nash, Sabrina Washington and Alesha Dixon deliver their debut long player.

It shows that while yes, the inevitable British Destiny's Child comparison is thoroughly deserved, they and their producers still do enough - with a mix of UK garage and other straight-off-the street inflections - to steer this away from sticking to the American R&B blueprint. The likes of Be with Me do still sound a mite in debt to Beyonce Knowles and her cohorts, while MT sound like just another English girl group on the syrupy These Days, a possible escapee from the final All Saints album.

But there's fresh and vital pop elsewhere due to the beatwork and frenetic vocals on the likes of Why, All I Want, the rap-fired They'll Never Know and the fleetly funky That Type of Girl. Enjoyable and hopefully it will afford them enough success to allow the trio to quit their jobs as motorcycle showroom models, as we see on the cover.

(Shock)