The Singles - Sweet Tooth

We talk about how Power Pop has become a catch all category that captures anything that is melodic pop and that offends some and irritates others, thinking it holds them back. Well there is no doubt at all that Los Angeles's The Singles are Power Pop.

You can go to any of the three main surges in Power Pop, Merseybeat, Late 70's New Wave and the early 90's break out and the band would happily fit in. At times it's straight ahead Cavern stuff, but there are more times when they nod to the other two ages and it's that that is the most interesting.





Sweet Tooth is a cracking little record, songs that chime and hooks that hit you from the off. It's also a real grower of an album. What at first seems a little simplistic, add layers on repeated listens, particularly songs like You're The Only One and the wonderful, Phone Call.

Dawn is like one of those ballads that the Glam Rock bands used to do, their slowie if you like and in keeping with that theme, Nobody Knows is Bay City Rollers Pop like with hints of mid 80's Scots Pop. Voodoo has a real 60's UK Beat Backdrop.




The likes of Gone and If You Want Me, You Can Have Me are just great melodic pop, in fact the whole album is. It's real singalong and air guitar stuff, exactly what a great Power Pop album should be. It's not revelatory, but so few are doing this kind of album these days, it's make a refreshing change.

A song like Sweet Tooth deserves to join the Power Pop Classics and the aforementioned Phone Call is my particular fave, it's all a bit spiky and psychy, far more aggresive than the rest of the album, superbly so. I can't recommend the album highly enough.






You can buy the album at the links here.