Pogo Pops - 2022 - Daylight

(36:36; Apollon Records)

Track list:
1. Daylight 4:32
2. Maybe It Was Just a Dream 3:41
3. Dancing to the Beat of My Heart 4:09
4. Fall into You 1:00
5. My Mind Is Like a Radio 6:35
6. The Echoes of the Day 3:34
7. Things That We Did 4:01
8. A Certain Sound 5:41
9. Stay Awake 3:23

Line-up:
Frank Hammersland - vocals, bass
Viggo Krüger - guitars
Nicolai Hamre - drums
with:
Christer Knutsen - piano
Yngve L. Sætre - keyboards, synthesizers
Vegard Lemme - percussion, keyboards
Håvard Funderud - horns
Are Ovesen - horns
Aksel Øvreås Røed - horns


Norwegian band Pogo Pops started out back in 1987, and were an active and popular band until they went on a hiatus in the middle of the 1990's They returned in 2006 however, and have released four studio albums since getting back together again. "Daylight" is the most recent of these productions, and was released through Norwegian label Apollon Records in the late spring of 2022.

Indie rock is the name of the game for this production, and it is a variety of the kind that most certainly looks back in time for inspiration. In some cases to more purebred pop-oriented escapades, at times arguably with a subtle Americana touch, but more often than not light to more slightly more substantial psychedelic features is the main flavoring of the songs explored on this production.

In terms of structure and vocal harmonies quite a few of the songs comes with something of an invite to namedrop artists such as The Beatles and Electric Light Orchestra for sure, and in many cases these creations will also be of an uplifting or melancholic nature that should be found familiar and intriguing by fans of both of those bands too, but on this album used in a context that is a bit more indie rock oriented and at least at times also wandering a bit closer to the more psychedelic pastures explored by the former and a bit more removed from the catchy pop hooks of the latter. There are similarities though, and I kind of guess that a slight power pop shine might be heard on occasion too.

Pogo Pops also hops over to explore territories of a slightly different kind here and there, with elements from funk, soul and arguably also disco brought in on a couple of occasions, and in one case combining these elements with passages that have a more clear cut and clean psychedelic pop orientation with cosmic effects used in both forms as the element that ties these rather different orientations together as a whole.

While this is a production that perhaps will have a bit more of a niche appeal, many of those who appreciate well made indie rock with a vintage sound and psychedelic flavoring should find this to be quite the intriguing album to explore. In particular those who prefer material of this kind to have a bit more of a pop music general form, style and appeal.

Olav M. Björnsen, August 2022

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Pogopops1
https://www.apollonrecords.no/