When I first read the classification, “new wave power pop” I have to admit I was scared. For some reason all I could picture was those terrifyingly cheerful,” Powerpuff Girls, the worst popular bastardization of feminism since the Spice Girls proclaimed “girl power.” Although I’ve never even seen the cartoon, this was, to me, the image of “new wave power pop.”
So I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to Souvenirs for the first time. The Sacramento foursome of Verna Brock, John Conley and twins Matt and Ross Levine really know how to make fun, extremely satisfying music. The vocals are sweet and upbeat and the melodies are very catchy. This is music that you will be humming days after last listening to the album. I found the tracks where Brock’s vocals predominate to be most appealing (maybe I was influenced by the girl power of the powerpuff girls, who knows). Her voice is clear and lovely.
Don’t listen to this album if you’re in the mood for something epic and powerful, or something that will challenge you. This is music for when you don’t want to think, when you want to escape your meager existence and life’s mundane problems. The songs are extremely short and ask for minimal reflection. I couldn’t believe the album was over when my iPod stopped abruptly after only 34.5 minutes. I guess it’s a testament to the band that I was disappointed and wanted more.
This album put me in a mood that I hadn’t been in a while; a mood that I had forgotten even existed. It brought me back to when I was younger, days when jobs and bills and relationships didn’t exist and when I could have worry free fun for hours on end.
The music is slightly derivative; I could list many bands, both from the eighties and contemporaries of the California Oranges, that have an extremely similar sound – oddly enough The Bangles would be on my list – but I’m not going to; to do so would be to over think and overanalyze the album. As a music listener and as a reviewer I’m prone to being too critical. So for once it’s nice to say ‘who cares?’. This is fun, fantastic music that put me in a great mood. And sometimes that’s all that matters.
I’m having trouble writing a lot about this album. I could do a song-by-song breakdown, but it seems unnecessary as they all sound quite similar. The album could be viewed as one long song rather than a collection of extremely short numbers.
Souvenirs ultimately denies the possibility of in- depth analysis. It’s not that it’s a shallow album, it’s just that to dissect it would take away from the artists’ purpose, namely to have fun. So I’m not going to theorize, analyze or dissect. I’m just going to listen. I suggest you do the same.
