Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 12/02/07
Label: Counter Records

Like Lee Mavers before him, Pop Levi is your classic Cosmic Scouser, big on 'channeling' techniques and the occult practice of 'scrying' ("By using or attuning to an external source or object, one can enhance the stillness and peace needed to start the visions rolling," we're reliably informed). But wait! Come back! He may be a hippie, but Pop Levi's made a surprisingly great debut album.

Everything about it is surprising, really, when you consider that its creator used to play bass in Ladytron. In fact, Pop Levi's music seems a categorical rejection of everything Ladytron stand for. Where their music is hard and clean, Pop Levi's is warm and fuzzy. Where they mine the cool electro of Kraftwerk, Pop Levi embraces psychedelia, garage rock, blues and classic West Coast pop (he lives in LA). In place of programmed beats, Pop Levi deploys handclaps. Instead of emotionless monotone vocals, there are blasts of chipmunk-like jabbering.

In contemporary terms, Pop Levi is a peer of The Sleepy Jackson. Like Luke Steele, he crafts songs that are lush and epic yet tightly structured and melody-driven. The album's tone is established by opener "Sugar Assault Me Now", which, as befits a perfect pop song, is exactly three minutes in length. It's a masterpiece of song-writing judgement: sweet but not saccharine, full of character but not self-consciously quirky, expansive but not overblown. Yet there are even better pop songs to be found here.

The best one of all is the insanely catchy "Pick Me Up Uppercut", which evokes Devo with its mix of joyous repetition, jerky rhythms and unalloyed eccentricity. The spectre of Devo also looms over the chugging rockabilly of "Dollar Bill Rock". Unlike Devo, though, Pop Levi taps rock'n'roll's swagger and groove. "Hades' Lady" is an efficient surge of drive-time '70s pop-rock, while "Flirting" and "From The Day That You Were Born" drop the pace in their bids to seduce you.

There's barely a dull moment on this album. Perfectly paced, it zips from one big chorus to the next and, after 11 tracks, leaves you wanting more. What we have here is a timely reminder that accessible pop music needn't be bland or conservative and that pop stars can (should!) be mystical odd-balls. Nor will it harm Mr Levi's prospects that he looks an immaculate rock'n'roll pin-up as he stares forth from his album sleeve. Clearly, this is one hippie we can work with.

    by Niall O'Keeffe