[Released on Cantora]

Words: Gareth O’Malley

There’s one thing about this album that’s still puzzling us. It was released in the U.S. almost a year ago, and it saw the light of day here last week. How the hell did it not get picked up for U.K. distribution earlier? We ask this because - and there are no two ways about it - what we have here is one of the best pop records of the year.

Yep, we said it. It’s the kind of album that could explode given the right exposure, and it has the potential to become another of 2010’s great sleeper hits. Unsurprisingly, the duo hail from Brooklyn, which has become something of a hotbed for great bands in recent years.

Their brand of intricately-crafted pop caught us by surprise a few months ago when we heard ‘Bodies’, whose rollicking percussion and insanely catchy chorus marked the pair out as ones to watch, and it’s no surprise to see that the album’s fulfilled the promise that that track shows.

From the sugar-rush of the title track, to the brilliantly-monikered, slow-burning epic ‘Transylvanian Candy Patrol’, and through such gems as ‘Honestly’ and the ace in the pack that is ‘Farewell My Love’, this is an album that scoffs at the idea of genre, taking influence from such styles as post-rock, dream-pop, shoegaze and simple yet stunningly effective indie rock. It’s easy to get lost ‘In The Wooded Forest’; accessible as anything and strangely addictive, this album has it all. We adore it.

8.1