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Album Review

The Loves
Three Fortuna Pop!

Article written by Ged M - May 26, 2009

The Loves: Three

Three makes a good case for Simon Stone’s canonisation as a bubblegum-pop saint. He has the obscurist fanaticism of St Etienne's Wiggs and Stanley, the same left-field pop-savvy as Kevin Barnes, some of the archness but none of the irony of Neil Tennant; and like them all, he can conjure up a tune catchier than nits in a nursery class.

As with any candidate for sainthood, the church of pop demands evidence and Three has it in abundance. 'One-Two-Three' is ridiculously catchy glam pop with a stomping beat and cleverly dumb words that could be a boiled down summation of the pop lyrics of the last 30 years. And why 'Love Song #7', with its girl-group inflection and summery caress, wasn’t our Eurovision entry I don’t know as it would have been irresistible to all but the coldest eastern European hearts. If that’s not enough, 'Sweet Sister Delia' hymns the queen of indie-London with supercharged rock’n’roll transplanted straight from the MC5’s second album while 'Kaleidoscope in My Head' could be four great songs in one: inspired by synasthesia, it moves from colour-obsessed playground chant to spiky pop, to heartbreakingly melodic country-rock and finally Delia Derbyshire-esque space age psych-pop - this is a case of clever components mixed into a genius cocktail over five minutes. Although 'You Don't Have To' is a cover, (an obscure late-60s song by the Beeds), it not only represents Jenna’s finest singing moment, but also has a soaring Elephant 6 lushness too. This pop is nothing like po-faced; there’s a lighter-hearted element reflecting Simon’s other pastime as comedy writer; ‘Ode to Coca-Cola’ is sweet as the full-sugar version but won’t please the evil corporation with its balanced approach - “my friend the dentist tells me time after time/ that milk is better for me” - while the hidden track ‘Tom Waits for no Man’ mimics a scratchy, growly 1920s blues 78.

Three combines the bubblegum lo-fi pop of the eponymous first album with the 60s-styled psych-pop of its follow-up, Technicolour, to create a perfect blend of the Monkees and the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band; proof that, where pop is concerned, all you need is Loves.

Links:
http://www.fortunapop.com
http://www.myspace.com/lovetheloves

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