Neon Trees - Picture Show

The only other time I've seen another person acknowledge the existence of Neon Trees was when a pair of Americans came to stay with my next-door neighbours. Over here they've made almost no impression at all, but Stateside the band have tapped into an unusual fanbase. Their vocal twangs might scream Tyson Ritter (All-American Rejects) but their sound is a whole lot less pop-punk. In fact, pop might be a more succinct label.

Their 2010 debut album Habits might've failed to wow critics but with the aid of monstrously-catchy hit (#13) single Animal they established a pretty solid fanbase. Sure enough it was just a collection of catchy pop songs, but they are Mormons. Expecting soul from them is too much, right?

Predictably, their opener 'Moving in the Dark' heads straight for the stockpile sounds - a church organ and a 1985 synth give them their foot-tapping kickstart. Innocently spouting lyrics like "Live fast, it's a feeling not an art" as though they're the most important line you've ever heard, it's a relatively catchy but shallow track. They try to sound more controversial on 'Teenage Sounds', told from the perspective of a group of misfit teenagers - but fear not, it's more glam than Glee: "I'm sick of always operating out of fear/ I'm sick of being called a fag because I'm qjueer". It's a risky move from the band and it pays off. Knocking off single 'Everybody Talks' with a suitably cheesy music video (showing the band at a drive-in cinema being attacked by odd vampire/zombie/things), it's certainly a catchy collection of sounds but ones you've heard before: from the opening 50s "ahh"s to the standard power-pop chorus.

Somewhat borrowing an 80s-era Blondie tune for 'Mad Love' the band show a cute versatility, which is carried into 'Weekend'. Both extremely dated in atmosphere, though, they struggle to stand out, despite some hard-fought attempts with trumpets and Tyler Glenn's all-in vocals. DJ/producer/person Kaskade then turns up on 'Lessons in Love', a rather rare side to the band that tries its best to appeal to the club scene but can't quite fully sell itself down the river. As a result it sounds incomplete. Experimenting is something the band are keen to do here, though: at over 6 minutes, 'Trust' is certainly new territory for their studio output, and it's a pretty nice New Order sound.

Heading further down the electronica road, 'Close to You' might as well come wrapped in pink legwarmers. As richly conceptualized as it may be, however, it suffers a little towards the end - and the whole track ends up as a bit of a let-down. Just in case you'd forgotten about the album's title and artwork, 'Hooray for Hollywood' then interrupts everything with a "gimme, gimme, gimme your attention" that's not at all irritating when compared to the chorus' "lalalalalala"s. Evoking recent Keane/The Killers efforts on 'Still Young', they slot quite nicely into this whole new wave revivalism trend that's, uh, sadly on the way out now (god willing). They close with 'I am the DJ', the most inspired music/human metaphor since P!nk's, uh, God is a DJ. Yeah it's quite dull.

It's not going to excite or inspire anyone, but for pop albums you could do much worse. Now. Someone attack Tyler with a pair of clippers, please.

Rating: 5.5/10

Highlights: Trust, Weekend, Teenage Sounds,

Avoid: Moving in the Dark, Lessons in Love, Hooray for Hollywood

Artwork Watch: The most exciting "man in a hotel room" design since Brandon Flowers' Flamingo