Blue Hawaii/Pop Pop Vernac
Blue Hawaii
Open Reduction Eternal Fixation // Arbutus Records
Blue Hawaii is back with their familiar heartbreak antidote soundscape via their balmy electronica. Their fourth studio album Open Reduction Eternal Fixation primarily feels like a reverence to 90’s house and trance but with their brand of modern-ness that we have come to know and love as the collaborative imaginations of Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alexander Kerby. Despite the deeply self-reflective tone to the album it also beckons a feel of playfulness. There is a simplicity in their methodology this time that is reminiscent of Blood Orange’s approach to Coastal Grooves.
The eight-track album ostensibly takes the listener through the process of heartache starting with the opening track singing ‘still I miss u more than I thought possible’. This eventually leads to a heightened sense of confidence on “Sparkle” (‘I got this feeling/It’s making me sparkle’). The quickened pace to healing continues mid album with tracks that take you to a frenzied distraction on the dancefloor, but the last track slows down again to evoke the image of being quietly alone in the bedroom at night’s end reflecting on the notion “Can We Go Back”.
Favourite tracks: All That Blue, Sparkle, Still I Miss U
- Nicola Gunter
Pop Pop Vernac
Loud Local Band // Independent
“Feel Alright”, the opening track to Pop Pop Vernac’s latest, Loud Local Band, kicks the album off with a rock n roll head bobber that keeps the listener jiving from start to stop. The wailing vocals akin to a cartoon nutjob push the song forward to the great proclamation “I FEEL ALRIGHT!” A feeling the listener can relate with as Loud Local Band pumps through their ears.
Throughout the album, Pop Pop Vernac show many sides. “Feel Alright” (a certified banger) shows off their garage punk tendencies but they quickly prove they’re much more than just wailing and thrashing with album highlights “Arms” and the more emotive “Etizolam.” Both tracks flex the bands pop sensibilities with the melody and catchiness that wouldn’t be unfamiliar on the FM dial, yet neither ever seem to lack their edge.
Pop Pop Vernac truly shine in their ability to work off one another. The playfulness of the call and answer guitar work on “Shame This Day Has To End,” the throaty squealing harmonies on “Etizolam,” or the fact that each member works vocal duties in one form or another throughout the album. The varying vocal work by each member gives the release a dynamic edge often lost on a lot of modern garage rock.
Loud Local Band shows each member of Pop Pop Vernac pulling in their weight to provide an album that proves the prairies can still provide some of the best garage rock this country has to offer!
- Kennedy Pawluk
