Swedish exports Icona Pop have had a pretty
enjoyable rise. Having been taken on by New York Atlantic-offspring label Big Beat Records
(Skrillex, Flux Pavilion, Metronomy) in America and having had nods from
Mercury to Kitsune here in the UK, their Nights Like This EP came through to an
interesting buzz. Now with the likes of hype artist Charli XCX on board, is
their six-track offering, the “Iconic EP” actually worth all of the attention?
Opening with the aforementioned Charli XCX
featuring track I Love It; you’re instantly thrown into a world that looks and
sounds a lot like the kind of music that not only graces the dance tents at
festivals, but seeps out across the whole festival. I Love It crosses the
upbeat bass of modern Ibiza and the catchy sounds of both Black Kids and the
Naked and Famous in a hugely enjoyable opener. If I were to be anal, I’d
suggest that the second track; Ready For the Weekend (hello Calvin Harris)
should be the opening track as it has the kind of sound that you’d hear
regurgitated by a host of djs in *Club Venue, Little Townsville*, but given the diversity of each track on
the EP, its hardly fair to suggest this has a huge impact on the enjoyability. Good
For You is the first genuinely weak track on the EP in that it’s every euro-pop
track that made it to the states in the late-nineties all over again and
frankly, it grates the ears.
Fortunately,
if you’re after a big pop track, the only other “new” track on the record is
the one for you. Top Rated is better than anything Katy Perry has released in
years and a rich dance sound without having to listen to David fuck-face
Guetta. The remaining two tracks on the record are tracks taken from the
previous EP; each of them moderately enjoyable in their own right but with
little place in the 2012 release.
Lots of
buzz, a hype artist and a heck of a lot of pop cliché’s, but in these six
tracks; Icona Pop display that whether they’re nicking track titles from Calvin
Harris and Passion Pit or taking a few too many hints from Madeon and other
chart breaking contemporaries, they can still make it their own. Whether it’s all worth it though, I’m not
sold.
6.1
Braden Fletcher
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