The Merrymakers are a Swedish power pop duo, Anders Hellgren and
\nDavid Myhr, that seem to love the genre so much that they have come
\nup with an eclectic CD that almost sounds like a collection of the
\nhistory of power pop. Their third CD is called
\nBubblegun<\/i>, and that is an appropriate title since the music
\nis very sweet and melodic, but hints that all is not sweetness and
\nlight in their universe.<\/p>\n
The first song of the set is called “Saltwater Drinks” and it is
\nan ultra catchy, but slightly dippy pop confection, The next song
\nand first single “Troubled Times” is more serious and has more of a
\nnineties feel without losing its poppiness. “Under The Light Of The
\nMoon” sounds like a lost track from either Squeeze or Crowded
\nHouse. “Monkey In The Middle” is a bittersweet Paul McCartneyesque
\nmidtempo ballad about alienation. Then “Superstar” comes in as a
\nsarcastic Goo Goo Dolls type of rocker.<\/p>\n
So, in just the first five songs, you can see how the sound and
\nmood changes. I could go on about the combinations of different
\ninfluences they put on this CD, but I’ll let you buy it and have
\nfun playing name that tune. For the most part, they seem to favor
\nseventies and eighties groups like ELO, Queen, Squeeze, and
\nJellyfish, but there is also a nod to older bands, as well as bands
\nfrom the present.<\/p>\n
The Jellyfish influence makes sense since Andy Sturmer from that
\nband plays drums, co-wrote two songs, and produced several cuts for<\/p>\n
Bubblegun<\/i>. In fact, one of the songs he co-wrote called
\n“Sad” sounds so much like Jellyfish that it should be considered
\nfor inclusion on a Jellyfish greatest hits collection.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the Merrymakers love pop, but they are
\nalso not above making fun of it to some extent. “I’m In…Love!”
\npokes fun of the “All You Need Is Love” mentality in pop music, as
\nit is about a guy who doesn’t care that he is starving and wanted
\nby the police because he has found love. There are also some
\nstylistic parodies such as lifting a piano part straight from the
\nABBA song, “Money, Money, Money”, a nod to Sweden’s most popular
\nmusical export.<\/p>\n
The American release of
\nBubblegun<\/i> includes a second CD with five songs from their
\ndebut
\nNo Sleep ‘Til Famous<\/i>, which made them stars in Japan but was
\nnever released in the states. The production is a little more
\nintricate here, and the ELO and Queen influences are particularly
\nstrong, especially on the ballads “Smiling In The Sky” and “Shine
\nYour Light On Me”. The opening song “Monument Of Me” shows off
\ntheir sarcastic side, and “Don’t Tell Me” is a dead ringer for an
\nearly to mid-period Beatles song.<\/p>\n
One thing is for sure,
\nBubblegun<\/i> is a must-have CD for power pop fans, whether you
\nare a fan of modern or retro pop. The Merrymakers are yet another
\nSwedish band that makes classic pop. The music is well crafted, and
\nwhat it lacks in originality, it makes up for it with killer hooks
\nand a wry sensibility. This is definitely bubblegum music that is
\nso strong, it won’t lose its flavor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7329],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38831","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-merrymakers","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38831"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}