“Pom Pom” by Ariel Pink
One of the releases I was most hyped for this year was Pom Pom, Ariel Pink’s first major release to be credited as a “solo” album.
So what has everyone’s favorite grouchy music-nerd ironist produced this time? Compared with Mature Themes, this new album is torrid, booming, and cynical—and it’s also really damn good. Really good as in I’ve had it on repeat all this last week.
Ariel’s experiments on this album are addictive: “Put Your Number In My Phone,” a tongue-in-cheek come-on that could’ve come straight off Stephin Merritt’s 69 Love Songs is preceded by the haunting epic “Not Enough Violence,” some kind of deranged psychedelic hybrid of Ultravox and Peter Murphy with threatening lyrics. The whole album is like this: there’s a sexy noir tale (“Lipstick”), a ’50s beach musical number (“One Summer Night”), the reggae-dyed “Dinosaur Carebears.” Ariel is more inventive than ever.
The only criticism I can make is that lyrically, the album can come off as a little snide and bitter. “I dedicate this selfie to the little guy who will outlast me when I’m done.” And it comes as no surprise, as Ariel has been getting in trouble for off-color remarks lately—hopefully this won’t tarnish anyone’s perception of a great album. This is the good stuff. »
– Matthew Sweeney
