The Pop Corporation

Power Pop in all its forms is back, spearheaded largely by The Lemon Twigs and a buncha snotty Aussie groups – but what of Power Pop with a Grunge-ish edge? What about sugary sweet songs that have a bit of bite?

Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find a lot to love with the new album from Slippers.

Slippers is Madeline B.B. from Los Angeles, and has been in groups before, and made videos and done illustrations and all that, but with this new album, might be about to break new popularity with a skuzzy gem of perfect pop cut through a slackerish Super 8 lens.

Throughout this fine record, we hear Sarah Records and C86 ramshackle greatness, as well as honey-dipped girl group harmonies and melodies, but all cut with enough grit to balance out the sweetness. The tuffness comes on like really fun DIY punk – in ethos rather than literal sound – at moments, it feels like you’re listening to the photocopied pages of an underground fanzine sing at you, and it’s all super infectious.

Slippers’ album, at its core, has that certain grimy, sweaty edge that makes you feel like you’re all set for wrecking your best shoes at the best gig you’ll go to all year – all fuzzy, fizzy guitars and pots and pans, with songs sitting atop the whole thing which has a huge pop edge that leaves you beaming from ear to ear.

This is what new albums should feel like. While listening to it, you almost wish that everything sounded like this, but you grab it even tighter because they don’t.

The singles that preceded the album were all killer, so it’s no surprise that the rest of it is dynamite too. The latest, ‘Wasted Tonight’ is one of the picks of the bunch, and ‘Wants For Everyone’ is an immediate banger – but there’s gems sprinkled all the way through this LP – ‘Until You Can’t Give Up on Me’ is another standout, with LoFi synths and psychedelic flourishes.

From the outside looking in, there’s an intentional naivety that is utterly charming – or maybe it’s an immediacy of recording? – which means the songs feel fresh and not over-thought. The production feels like these songs weren’t exactly rushed, but rather, they were delivered at speed, and the result is a batch of tracks that don’t have an ounce of waste on them. Couple this with the hand drawn cover art that, if this is your kind of thing, you’re bound to be completely bowled over by the whole thing.

It is the kind of music that sounds simple as hell to make, but as anyone knows, perfect pop is something very few have the knack for, and this LP is bursting with what seems like effortlessly fabulous songs, and we’re lucky to get to hear them.

It’s early days of course, but this feels like one of those records that’ll only grow in stature as the years pass, and repeated listens reveal more cute twists and turns – that’ll only grow as you get to know these songs more intimately. The sweet and sour combo pours out of the speakers and sincerely, it’s difficult to not get carried away. This album feels like your first crush, or something, getting you sick with giddiness and good vibes.

If you like the music of Tchotchke, The Mouldy Peaches, or even Helen Love and The Buzzcocks, mixed with Yé Yé and The Bangles, you need to get in on this record already.

It’s scrappy, beguiling, moreish, well-made-but-not-too-well-made, as cool as anything you’ll ever hear, and if you give this album half a chance, you might have a new favourite band. You have the permission to excited.

We already want more.