Slurrup

The greatest problem with pop music is its disposable nature. When its done well its sounds almost effortless. This leads to it being easy to dismiss as easy to do. Liam Hayes latest effort, now set free by using his own name instead of Plush which he was previously known as, is a psych influenced pop album that harks back to another time whilst keeping its feet in the here and now.Its all short pop punches which hook you in. One Way Out is a pop gem of a number which trills along without resonating deep meaning. Fight Magic with Magic stands as a counterpoint to this with a slower darker feel (not very dark actually) that delivers a more lingering impact.As a guitar driven pop album this is a little gem which is as light an effort as you are likely to hear

Honestly, I think that this is one of the best albums made in the last 30 years. It holds its own against classic albums by the Talking Heads, Pere Ubu, The Fall and others. The pacing of the album is maddening and there is everything here that you could want. Pop hooks, crazy guitar things, strange happenings, disorienting surrealist madness, humor, heartache. It somehow manages to be simultaneously hilarious (theme from mindball), sad (get it right), haunting (august 14) and surreal (channel 44, the end of fight magic). On top of all of this, it rocks so hard that your head will spin. I don't doubt that Liam Hayes is even at his loosest, in fact, a genius and it is very evident on this album.

Does not happen too often that an artist comes up with a series of such brilliant songs on one record. Must be an artist who appreciates the concept of an album. To me it is at the same level as some great bands and performers of the sixties or the Talking Heads in the seventies or the Pixies for some time on the in the nineties and I can't think of anyone I was much impressed by after that. Age I guess.Like Liam Hayes previous records, the songs are intriguing, often with references to the greats of the past. He must have listened to them a lot during his life.