HorrorPops - Bring It On!

Tue 23rd Aug, 2005 in Music Reviews

After the Horrorpops’ highly anticipated and energetic Australian tour, it’s likely there’s more than a few fans hungrily awaiting a new album to sink their teeth into. Where the band’s debut Hell Yeah! was all about pop hooks, upright bass and danceable rhythms, the sophomore album gets down to more rock nitty gritty, with a few more style flavours thrown into the pot. Perhaps this has something to do with the entire band (including Geoff Kresge of Tiger Army fame) collaborating during the songwriting process, whereas Patricia Day and Kim Nekroman penned the last album exclusively.

Opener Freaks in Uniform demonstrates Patricia’s ethos when creating the album: scenesters beware, the Horrorpops are proud of their rock’n’roll lifestyle and fakers won’t be tolerated. It’s all about thrill seeking and thrill-giving apparently, and it’s up to the individual to make it happen. The frantic assurance of this track is instantly endearing, with Nekroman’s guitar cycling insanely and Day’s bass receiving the assault of a lifetime. The cheerleader chorusing accentuates the snarling vocal delivery and adds an air of spooky cabaret sideshow.

Hit ‘n Run is Blondie with coiffs and bass slapping – a strong chorus does incredible justice to Day’s vocals and extended guitar reverb gives the track a dreamy feel, but anchored with those characteristic insistent basslines and compulsive drum rhythms. The album’s title track is reminiscent of the pop sound of the first album with the addition of ghoul-like backing vocals and a noticeably increased intensity within the rhythm section. Scale sliding and leapfrog bass plucking worthy of the approval of any rockabilly veteran display some honed musicianship.

Opening and scattered with snippets of ska, It’s Been So Long is an album highlight. The chorus hits the mark with absolute precision amid touches of reverb and twangy guitar, and it’s hard not to move to the infectious on-beat that permeates the song. Again, Day’s vocals ignite the arrangement and lift a good tune into repeat-listen territory. Meanwhile, You Vs Me slides into punk’n’roll with minimised melodies and truncated, distorted guitar riffing. This track also grabs onto a pop hook and refuses to let go from the first chorus. The bass sound has momentarily slowed to a plod but the energy is still brimming from this number, and the chorus is pure rock pop delight.

The ballad-like Trapped releases the frantic pace somewhat but makes up for it with lots of Oh Ohing and some very decent verse moments. In keeping with the slower hip-swing comes the follow-up Walk Like A Zombie. Nekroman flexes his baritone backing vocal muscles and Day’s vocals are clearly the song’s focus. A minimal but effective bassline drives the rhythm in the background and a playful guitar solo adds interest when the track begins to wane. Perhaps a lower point of the album, but that’s hardly the end of the world by this point in the record!

You’ve had time to catch your breath, now its back into epileptic rock mode with Where You Can’t Follow. The chorus is a culmination of cliches and incredibly familiar, but that kind of makes it more fun. Without the backing vocals, this may have been an entirely different sound, as they add some essential beefing-up to the atmosphere. A strangely western feel takes over S.O.B, allowing Day’s narrative to take centre stage and allowing space for out-on-the-dusty-front guitar reverb. It’s a little bit Cramps and a tad John Wayne, with a splash of vocal snarl and jumping bass.

Closer Who’s Leading You Now is no surprise – it’s fairly similar to much of the first half of the album – but it’s kind of an appropriate closer with its fade-away repeat chorus and strong melody. Thirteen tracks is a hell of a lot of attitude to work through, but fans are likely to love this album with as much unconditional bias as the debut. There are some incredibly and contagiously catchy tracks here, and a lot more style variation than on Hell Yeah! But despite the hooks it occasionally creeps into Horrorpops formula. Oh, and don’t think you can relax when the last track ends – there’s one more surprise waiting in store.