Aqpop
Fight vs Ride EP
Aqpop

The history of Aqpop goes back to the late 90's indie-pop scene of Trondheim, where lo-fi psych-poppers Aquarium Poppers and Chime Poppers a few years later merged into Aqpop. (Check out our 2001 reviews of Find The Tunes/Jamison and Recomander Tunes In Various Stations EP.) By 2004 the lo-fi element was more or less left behind, as their debut album, Beatifully Smart, arrived. A fine album leading to a few live gigs in Norway and the band playing a festival in England, but as for recorded output the band seemed to have left the building. That is, until now. 10 years later they are back, reportedly with an album in the works, and this EP called Fight vs Ride as a taste of things to come. Musically they continue more or less where they left off, serving up melodies inspired by psychedelia and late 60's pop, often hummable and with a summerly feeling, though "Will You Follow?" is a little on the hectic side rather than relaxed. This may be related to a somewhat dulled drums/cymbals sound production/mix though, especially evident on that particular track. For variety, a dash of Latin American rhythm and flavour is added to "Ride", while Roar Øien (Sugarfoot) provides some nice country steel guitar playing to "Secret Life". All in all Fight vs Ride may not blow the psychpop-scale, but fans of the genre will want to check out their new album when it arrives.

Copyright © 2014 Knut Tore Breivik