ALBUM REVIEW: Power On – Helen Love

HELEN LOVE returns with Power On, their ninth studio album in a whooping 26 years in the business. It’s an explosive release, full of energy, fun, love and some killer beats. But can Power On go further than its surface-level bubblegum punk-pop?

HELEN LOVE are a punk band who have been around for quite some time, serving up bright pink punky-pop which sounds like the auditory equivalent of a kid’s crafts table. This latest release, Power On, isn’t necessarily going to break any new ground, but that isn’t to say it’s not a hell of a lot of fun.

Debbie Take Control Of The Stereo is one of the album’s stronger tracks, with a more interesting beat and shout-along lyrics. Jackie is also a brilliant song, illustrating just how messy this band can get whilst still holding it entirely together. It’s the band’s most obvious homage to THE RAMONES, but the influence of the punk legends can be heard throughout the album.

A persistent complaint throughout the record though has to be the length of the songs. One would have thought this band would embrace their punk roots and go for shorter songs, but instead it seems like a random bridge and extra chorus is frequently tacked on the end. This just leads to a lot of unnecessary repetition and means each song loses a bit of its momentum, a bit of its punch.

Can Power On go further than its surface-level bubblegum punk-pop? The short answer is no. But we also shouldn’t ask it to. With Power On, HELEN LOVE provides us with a record which is all about having a good time. It’s about falling in love, hard, and fast. It’s about hijacking the local radio station and blaring the loudest, most obnoxious punk just because you can. It’s messy, it’s loud and it’s certainly not to everyone’s taste. But these guys just don’t care. They rock, and they rock hard. And they do it in Welsh accents.

Rating: 7/10

Power On is out now via Alcopop! Records. 

Like HELEN LOVE on Facebook.