Album Review: Helen Love – Power On

You don’t need to skip to the end of this review to get the summary of what we think about it. Power On by Welsh power-punk-pop veterans Helen Love is an exhilarating torrent of pop culture references served up on a bed of fizzing, feelgood bubblegum punk and I think you should buy it. If you do, I guarantee that the godawful shittiness of 2020 will be alleviated for a very entertaining 32 minutes. Play on repeat and you could be grinning hugely all day.

There’s a chance that an album like this could have been created innocently by wide-eyed popsters with a sketchy knowledge of the Ramones back catalogue. However, this is not what this is. Every track is a lucky bag of (mostly) 1970s quotes and references. And if songs about Olivia Newton-John don’t mean anything to the younger listener, you can just let the classic three-chord blast wash over and exhilarate you.

This album is way smarter than Helen Love wants you to think it is. There are too many touchpoints to list. Some are specifically era-related (Modern Lovers, Costello et al) and some are timeless pop. And while these are evidence of an in-depth knowledge, they’re dressed up as perennial teenage ditties about housing estates, pop stars and the anguish of love/hate. The lyrical adolescence is a trick, a smokescreen. There is way more going on here than a superficial listen would uncover. In that respect, Power On just keeps giving and each listen uncovers some new musical quote.

Unashamedly retro and deliberately twee, it’s the musical equivalent of a Saturday morning kids’ TV show. If this album doesn’t make you want to jump up and down, you’re devoid of any human qualities. A Jilted John it’s very, very OK to like. A pink and yellow Jackie magazine, edited by Joey Ramone. Love it.

Power On by Helen Love is out now on Alcopop! Records