Allergic To Being Alone

Babaganoüj “Hoping That It’s You”

Power pop is basically rock music about loving rock music, and wanting to turn everything about ordinary life into glamorous, catchy, fun rock music. It’s about wanting action and romance and fun, and having complete faith that riffs and “doo-doo-doos” and hooks and zippy solos is a fast track to feeling those things. “Hoping That It’s You” is an exceptional example of the genre, and I was sucked into this band’s rock fantasy the second the guitar chords kicked in after the first line. I love the way this song is produced – it sounds like they did everything they could to get a Mutt Lange vibe on a budget, to the point that it sometimes resembles Shania Twain at her most rocking. That said, I can’t imagine Mutt being OK with having the flat, mumbly Charles Sale shadow Harriette Pilbeam’s lead vocal like that, but I like the contrast of her assertive, earnest voice and his sorta shy and stoned vibe.

Buy it from Bandcamp.