Pop Etc leaves the guitars in the practice space, embracing an of-the-moment synthesizer-based sound that lands between the Drive soundtrack’s mellow textures and Justice’s self-explanatory “D.A.N.C.E.,” a tribute to Michael Jackson. The band plays with the King Of Pop’s sense of utility: It’s music to move to, or sometimes cry with. Singer Chris Chu takes on dual roles as a pursuant romantic and a tour-bus Casanova unruffled by his “main chick back at home.” With his rotating moody/carefree delivery and the occasional hip-hop quip, it’s emotional territory last explored by Drake. Chu and the band mostly pull it off, delivering a successfully silly ode to strings-free hook-ups on “Yoyo” and turning suitably forlorn on “C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E.” The group’s transition from axes to electronics sparks plenty of creativity, though its enthusiasm for the new toys doesn’t always transcend the material: “Keep It For Your Own” is a deflated “Pumped Up Kicks,” and the apocalyptic party scenario of “R.Y.B.” is too tongue-in-cheek to raise the stakes.
Still, the album’s a bold move for a band that had just gotten the ball rolling, and it should only boost its momentum. Though guitar-centric rock acts like The Black Keys have cried out against the genre’s recent move toward more synths, bleeps, and bloops, Pop Etc make a committed case for welcoming its promising new electronic overloads. “I just want to live it up now,” Chu sings on “Live It Up,” and Pop Etc does just that.
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