The PoPo

Album Review

Let's get something out of the way — Philadelphia-based the PoPo have a stupid name. And even though a description of their music on paper seems like it'll surely follow suit — a random and futuristic mix of lo-fi post-punk, electronics and sporadic Middle Eastern flair — it somehow works more often than not. It might have something to do with the near-lazy stream-of-conscious vocal styling that the guys employ; not quite the rapping that their self-proclaimed "post-hip hop" designation would suggest, but their matter-of-fact delivery tempers the eccentricity of the music into something that's more endearing than plain annoying. The discernible lyrics make about zero sense, which is part of the fun for sure, and the tastefully titled "Dirty Sanchez" even employs bits that sound like robotic samples taken straight from a '50s B movie about flying cars in the year 2000. Initially, there are unexpected moments amid all the fuzzy electro-rock and hazy distortion where dancing would not be out of the question, but after one listen through the album, dancing seems to actually be more the rule than the exception. Or at least a drunken sway will do. "I Feel Mysterious Today" could double as the soundtrack to a garage-based snake charming experience, while the sludgy opening of "London Falling" quickly perks up to party mode with Casio tweeps and a propulsive beat directing through a rapid-fire vocal assault that gives way to a haze of "London Bridge is falling doooooown/down to the ground." Something says the PoPo are probably more fun live, but for an album to represent them for posterity's sake, this ain't even half bad. It's actually pretty good.