Pop Evil’s newest offering, Pop Evil (eOne), starts strong out of the gate, a glorious return to good old-fashioned, popular, light Heavy Metal. Dave Grahs and Nick Fuelling prove some nice chunky guitar work interplayed with air guitar worthy riffs. Leigh Kakaty provides vocals you can actually hear! Not only can you hear the vocals but they are also of a pitch and timbre that are pleasing to the ear. Best of all, you can sing along. Frat Boys, Norebang addicts, High Schoolers, Air Guitar and Air Drummers rejoice! An album for all of us!

There is nothing new or revolutionary with Pop Evil. That’s the sheer beauty of it. Tracks like ‘Colors Bleed’ and ‘Art of War’ are Rage Against the Machine-lite. The former is a track is perfect for 2018 keyboard warriors. And the latter inspires some happy head-banging. While ‘Ex Machina’ has that Josh Whedon Dollhouse montage feel going on.

‘Be Legendary’ is my favourite track. It’s got those cheesy “Get motivated!” lyrics. I swear I had a Rocky montage happening in my head when I played this track…. TWICE! It’s right up there with ‘Eye of the Tiger’. That inspiring! I am going to have to add this to my weight-lifting playlist. ‘Nothing But Thieves’ has an awesome soulful intro. It could be used for some Netflix original dark drama. Black background. Credits floating and coalescing in. Blood running down the screen. Doll body parts strewn about. Then the vocals kick in and it’s a dark techno Pink Floyd Nine Inch Nails mashup. OK, maybe this one is my favourite. Then Pop Evil kicks you in the teeth with ‘A Crime to Remember’. It’s like a modern R&B track. Does Shonda Rhimes know this song exists? She should. She must use it! Copiously. In like EVERY SHOW SHE DOES!!!!!!!

(Yes, I used a lot of exclamation points. Yqou will too when you hear this song and then tell all your friends about it. Because, you will talk about this song, a lot!)

Should I tell you about the last 4 songs? Non je ne crois pas. You will have to buy Pop Evil’s self- titled album. And you will.

8.0/10

VICTORIA ANDERSON