The Electric Pop Group is, in essence, the Aamot brothers from Gothenburg. Their self-titled self-released debut album was released back in 2006 and met with a fair degree of critical acclaim, resulting in them being scooped up by the Matinée sugar refinery. Their output has been scant in-between albums but here we are with the follow up and, for those of you into all things sparkly and jangly, a nice little outing it is too!
The C86 attachment is all too easy of course and then the transition into dream pop, but this is where The Electric Pop Group neatly sit. It’s full of great harmonies perpetrated by some simple guitar picking, best here when there’s interplay between acoustic and electric. Top that with a set of tales of love forlorn and it is an endearing package, if maybe less than stimulating. The vocal style has a compelling mournfulness to it, much akin to Scandinavian neighbours Cats On Fire, which serves as a suitable antidote to all the saccharin!
The simplistic approach is effective because of the strong melodies and harmonics, best illustrated on tracks like Not By Another and Into Thin Air. The pace does get lifted occasionally though, with both I Know I Will and The Way It Used To Be being given an injection of pace through a punchy rhythm. It is perhaps though on the more sombre numbers where the best results are achieved and In The Back Of My Mind stands out, with its neatly layered vocals solemnising proceedings. Also on Drawing Lines, which has a little more depth lyrically. It is within the words though that the album falls a little short, where maybe less triviality and more heartbreak would have added greater meaning and intensity to the material. But that said, it remains an enjoyable enough venture, giving out an aura of warmth amongst the bleak – “I fell as if it’s the best part of our lives, this is just the best of times”.
Matinée specialise in this type of genre and, if it is your bag, check out their recent compilation The Matinée Grand Prix, which has a tremendous selection of artists performing new tracks and is well worth a listen.
