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Helen Love – Power On -- In these uncertain times, it's great to have some certainties. Three things we can rely on: Somehow Helen Love have consistently and magically managed to produce magnificently memorable, sharp and infectious buzzy punk pop tunes over three decades, and Power On doesn't disappoint. The guitars fizzle and pop, the synths weave and wonk and the melodies caress and crash like an inviting summer wave on Langland Bay.
If anyone doubts the potential of music to soothe and smile out loud, I defy you to listen to Dead In My Head or Debbie Take Control of the Stereo and not be pogoing along in your own private socially distanced gig. Helen is someone who is far from ignorant or ambivalent of the crimes of the current regime. Yet unlike most of the artists I love, her lyrics manage to create a parallel poptastic universe of sunshine, blue sky, glitter and happy endings, where the girl gets the boy and also gets one over the dull and dire scenesters. Not just the lyrics, but the expert crafting of the songs too, coax us into a smiling, positive place, as she again exhibits an apparently effortless ability to pour out uplifting, bright and breezy, memorable and classic tunes that themselves make you happy.
Somehow this is subversive too. Our world has the potential to be full of bubblegum and summer and love, long hair and cola and fun. Why can't it be? The tracks on this record recall a happier more innocent time, not just pre pandemic but also before the mind forged manacles of profession, adulthood, responsibility, maturity. Times it's worth fighting to get back. Do Not Go Gentle into this shite storm, calls out Dylan Thomas. Shout it out loud, says Helen Love. It's the power of the music. It's disposable, and it's more than alright. So in these times of uncertainty, Tory bungling and bigotry and wet and windy Welsh Lockdown weekends, it's wonderfully reassuring to be able to lose yourself in a new record of Summer Pop perfection from Helen Love. From Swansea Bay to the USA. Rosey R*E*P*E*A*T Power On is surfin into your heart from November
13th on Alcopop Records here |
