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Pop Levi - Never Never Love (Counter)
UK release date: 14 July 2008
2.5 stars
Pop Levi - Never Never Love

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track listing

1. Wannamama
2. Never Never Love
3. Dita Dimone
4. Semi Babe
5. Fire On Your Feet
6. Mai's Space
7. You Don't Gotta Run
8. Oh God (What Can I Do)
9. Everything And Finally
10. Love You Straight
11. Call The Operator
12. Calling Me Down
13. Fountain Of Lies

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Pop Levi's music is as cosmopolitan as his upbringing and as varied as his travels. Which is what you'd expect for somebody playing bass guitar with Ladytron on their epic world tour of 2003-4, who has been a British ambassador in China.

His music is bright and breezy, the instantly disposable pop songs often energetic and upbeat. The big guns come out early - the jaggedly exciting Never Never Love, with its arcade beats and snatched bits of melody, followed by the even catchier Dita Dimone, the finest moment on the album. But from then on it's a tale of inconsistency as the album glitters occasionally but fails to fully catch light.

One of the problems is his voice, which works really well for the poppier numbers but is found out when the accompaniment is taken down a notch or two. There are marked similarities with the Scissor Sisters in the slower music, too, which unfortunately works to Pop Levi's detriment with its over-eager sincerity.

The lyrics are often bubblegum pop but delivered with a thin voice and often scattered beats. Semi Babe, then, is a splodge of lumpy percussion with the vocals taken a step too far, while Fire On Your Feet sounds too much like a novelty record with the 'my space' vocoder rather too obviously projected - unless you love your social networking, that is.

It's difficult, then, to form a satisfactory conclusion about Pop Levi and what he achieves on this record. The pedigree of the singles can't be disputed, and they both hit the bullseye - the trouble being that the nine tracks that follow are too often found on the outer reaches of the board.

It would be easy after this album to dismiss Pop Levi as something of a musical harlequin. But Never Never Love does at least in its singles reveal a knack for a cracking good tune, even if the support material shows the cracks too early.


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GIG:
Pop Levi @ 100 Club, London

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Pop Levi @ Water Rats, London

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EXTERNAL LINKS
Pop Levi



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