Second
time around for New Jersey band. An infectious mix of power pop and
indie rock.
I
send apologies to any regular readers for the recent lack of posts. A
combination of school holidays, going away on a family holiday, and
getting back to an increasingly demanding workload at the day job has
meant I haven't had the time I'd have liked to concentrate on the
blog. Hopefully that should change soon, and looking on the positives
there's been a build up of great music to listen to, write about and
gently push your way. So I'll start now!
One
promo that was waiting for me when I came home from holiday was this
EP from PoP. The band are a three-piece based in New Jersey, USA.
They original formed as a quartet in the mid '90s and like many a
band worked hard, wrote some great tunes, gigged plenty but somehow
never managed to get that lucky break and wider recognition. The
music eventually took a back seat as careers and families became more
of a priority. As all musicians know the desire to make music is an
itch that will eventually need scratching. With the sudden and
unexpected passing of founder member Ian Long, the remaining members
(Andre Mermegas, Matthew VanNortwick and Christopher Goss) got
together to record this five song EP in his memory. It's a fitting
tribute that not only shows that the band have lost none of their
drive and energy, but also that they can still turn out decent catchy
tunes.
The
music a mix of Anglo and American power pop and melodic indie rock
(think of a Venn diagram with circles representing Big Star, Teenage
Fanclub, Foo Fighters, and The Jam, then place PoP somewhere in the
middle). It's a sweet spot that finds just the right balance between
jangle and crunch. Factor in vocal harmonies, overdriven guitar riffs
and tunes that pass the whistle test and you have a pleasing and
accomplished comeback.
Lyrically
it's a case of taking stock with songs that either look back to the
band's earlier days and lack of lucky break ('Warhol's Promise') or
document the band's present ('4 Is 3') and their future ('New
Again'). Today is a different era to those heady pre-internet days of
the mid '90s and whether PoP progress any further this time round
only time will tell, but that's really not the point. The music is
reward enough as I'm sure they're only too aware. And one of its many
associated pleasures is being able to share it with an increasingly
switched-on world. Ladies and gentlemen take a listen to PoP.
Clickhere for PoP on Facebook.
Clickhere for PoP on Bandcamp.
