The Yums Yums Brightly Colored "Pop!"

Cover Image Courtesy Rum Bar Records

If you're in need of some positive vibes and cool music this summer, look no further than For Those About To Pop!, the latest release from The Yum Yums. If you could bottle up the unbridled energy and sheer enthusiasm the band shows on this record, you could use it to light up the world! The Norway based band’s phenomenal new record features a delightful mix of pop, rock, glam and bubblegum meshed together to create a sparkling collection of tunes that you'll be happy to have stuck in your head. The album kicks off with the pulsating title tune, which is nothing less than the band's mission statement, celebrating the delights of the "three-chord pop song," and a dedication to those fans who understand the sheer joys of listening to rockin' pop music.

For the next thirteen songs, the band snap, crackle and pops their way through a delicious collection of candy-coated confections. Songs such as "Baby Baby" and "Can I Come Over" neatly balance pop, punk and rock. The dazzling "Can't Get Enough of Your Lovin' and "She's Got Everything" may even make you double-check to see if your music device has morphed back into a transistor radio! The Yum Yums breezily genre-hop between power pop, rock and punk. There are touches of 1960s and 1970s pop and bubblegum, a hint of 1990s era pop-punk bands like Blink 182 and Jimmy Eat World, and a definite homage to the three-minute rave-ups of The Ramones, who were themselves self-professed bubblegum fans. Just listen to the introduction to "Let's Go Crazy" to see what I mean.

This is a truly enjoyable, smile-inducing record that celebrates the joys of listening to music on the radio in "Summertime Pop" and the singer's day-glo colored love for his best girl on "Bubblegum Baby." Sunshine-dappled tunes like "Lie To Me" and "Crush On You" just beg for you to sing along, while you're also digging the scintillating guitars, thrilling drum beats and incandescent vocals. The uber-talented line-up of The Yum Yums includes lead guitarist and vocalist Morten Henriksen, guitarist-vocalist Gunnar Vrontveit , and drummer Ulf Ramone Bendicksen, along with several of their talented friends, including Christian Jacobsen on keyboards and Havard Eldsaunet and Stine Bendiksen on bass. These guys are so good, they could make the members of classic power pop groups like the Rubinoos, Shoes and the Raspberries green with envy!

For Those About To Pop! is a phenomenal album and a marvelous, loving valentine for power pop fans everywhere. Once you hear it, I guarantee you'll be longing to seek out the band's other releases, which are equally as enjoyable as this one. For more information on For Those About To Pop! and the terrific music of The Yum Yums, head over to the site for Rum Bar Records by following this link: https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/for-those-about-to-pop. To hear a couple of the fantastic songs from the album, follow these links to check out the bouncy "Can I Come Over" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0IDbhO-QFo, and the sugary "Summertime Pop": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkOCgxtvQMA. Remember, "the pop will never stop!"