Icona Pop - Icona Pop

Although usually condusive of a bemused shrug (honestly, I swear some of their featured musicians are made up), the 'Best New Track' feature of Pitchfork occasionally throws up something surprising and instantly loveable: I Don't Care by Icona Pop was just one of them. So when this was also recommended by Popjustice, and given my desperate attempts to immerse myself in pop music and simultaneously be cool, I hopped aboard the bandwagon with gusto. And you know what? I love it.

That phenomenal single aside, Sweden's newest pop sensations have, off the back of their international (modest) success, find themselves yet to take over the UK or States. Let's hope, then, that they're not doomed to an embarrassing record label drop and future solo efforts on the X Factor (in the same vein as Mini Viva, who had equally brilliant but tragically-ignored singles) or a series of delayed release dates of album #2 (VV Brown).

The album, however, seeks to buck the trend with a fine, current, sinister-sounding opener, 'Sun Goes Down'. Featuring electric duo The Knocks and South African gentleman St. Lucia, the track creeps along triumphantly with thudding, dragging beats and an unsettling vocal in the chorus, but all of it's enrapturing. Speaking of which, it's followed by 'I Love It', the year's go-to for daft pop catchphrases and an almighty sing-along chorus. I cannot use enough superlatives to do the song's catchiness, or boldness justice - it's just one of those once-a-year pop songs that everyone has to admit is fucking brilliant. Its euphoric vibe trickles into the also-catchy but quite average 'We Got the World', a slightly derivative and typical Guetta-pop offering that's at least keeping the party going. The duo also borrow a little more than slightly from Martin Solveig (or, more specifically, Hello) on 'Downtown', the quite unsubtle, but potentially accidental, oral sex metaphor track ("I like it when you kiss me downtown").

They finally reel back in the synthpop for a much more rhythmic, experimental 'Ready for the Weekend' opening, before unleashing all manner of 8-bit sound effects and an insanely catchy chorus, backed by kind-of Skrillex production values. They go a little bit Rizzle Kicks, though, on the distinctly underwhelming reggae-lite 'Wanna B With Somebody', which is just a shade too repetitive and employs too obvious wub-wub-wubs. Instead, they channel their inner Pet Shop Boys on 'Good For You', for a much more classic aesthetic, and one that's pretty hard not to like. The idea of them keeping up this kind of energy for a whole album, though, would require unrealistic (and exhausting) energy - and therefore, whilst the breather tracks like 'Manners' and 'Lovers to Friends' aren't by any standard the album's highlights, they serve their purpose with relative enjoyability. They effectively give the party tracks, like 'Top Rated', more of an impact.

The album's only massive 'WTF?' moment for me that I still refuse to accept is their interpretation of Lesley Gore's It's My Party on the uncomfortable and screechy 'My Party'. Just not fun at all. They more than make up for it though with the album highlight 'Nights Like This' following it, a kind of recent-Girls Aloud style offering that slips in 8-bit melodies and the promise that "you will never be alone". The whole world of Icona Pop is parties, fun and uncaring attitudes towards the chores of life, and it's not really encapsulated more than in the closer 'Flashback': "memory lost in alcohol" they confess, without any worry.

It might not be the album of the year in terms of lyrical depth and contemplative art, but what would you expect of a band called Icona Pop? Few new groups and pop acts come with albums more packed with potential hits and great songwriting than this, and hopefully the future is bright for these girls.

Rating: 8/10
Highlights: I Love It, Sun Goes Down, Nights Like This, Top Rated, Ready for the Weekend
Avoid: Wanna B With Somebody

Artwork Watch: Impossible to find on Google. This is the 'Iconic EP' but the album I'm told is much the same. 
For fans of: Mini Viva, Ke$ha, Charli XCX
 Up next: Lawson