(Rubber Records/EMI)

Finnish fizz pop. Sweet as

With the pop world repainted in day-glo, there are many bright young things with guitars and synths who just as readily adopt swishy ‘70s disco and chirrupy AOR pop as the more surface-cool reference points like psychedelia or new wave. Hence the emergence of The Crash, their album Pony Ride aiming for the same giddy delight that the album’s title would inspire in the imagination of a small child. The first three songs alone showcase the Finnish four-piece’s full-bodied embracing of many frothy musical sources.  The opening title track is bouncy Motown-esque pop, the slinky Big Ass Love is all roller discos and mirrorballs and the grandiose candle-lit ballad Grace is string-laden McCartney-via-Scissor Sisters sky-reaching. The album continues on its fluro-headband way, with the Parisian accordion-fuelled disco of Lauren, while Solitudinarian reconfigures ‘70s/early ‘80s blue-eyed MOR in a similarly entertaining fashion as Phoenix at their sweetest.  The carefree Reasons To Sing may have the same backbeat as Hall & Oates’ Maneater, but the jangly guitars and sweet pop melody are the aural equivalent of a cartoon sun. Meanwhile, the Australian edition’s bonus track Still Alive ends the album on a sugary but entertaining note with its uplifting ‘80s pop backed by synths shoplifted from Van Halen’s Jump. You may need some fillings afterwards, but until then The Crash’s Pony Ride is one fun-filled sherbert dip of a record.

***½

MATT THROWER

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