Charli XCX: Sucker
Details
Genre: Pop, Pop-rock, RockPros:
Fun, infectious party pop, rock-based aggression and juicy hooks keeps this disc on repeatCons:
The opening cut ("Sucker") isn't all it's cracked up to be, possibly the album's bland spotParty pop done right: Charli XCX gives bubblegum pop a run for its money on delicious party record
Party pop done right: Charli XCX gives bubblegum pop a run for its money on delicious party record
After breaking out heavily on other artists, British newcomer Charli XCX – the songwriting force behind Icona Pop’s mammoth hit “I Like It” and Iggy Azalea’s 2014 summer smash “Fancy” – is now stepping into her own. And rightfully so. Her first major release, 2013’s True Romance, was a decent debut, although it was spotty, a bit heavy on dark pop and uneven in places. But XCX isn’t about to make the same mistakes twice and has followed up that album with Sucker, a collection that will probably go down in history as a definite piece of bad-ass pop.
Inside the thirteen-track collection, XCX explores the art of bad girl rebellion while emphasizing the heart and soul of party life. “I don’t wanna go to school/I just wanna break the rules,” she sings on ‘Break the Rules.” She vividly turns up the volume on catchy hooks, instant radio rock-pop and even hearkens back to the cool punk rock of the late ‘70s and 80’s. As if the disc had been deliberately punked for a college-life experiment, XCX adds Ramones spunk (“London Queen”), lively garage band jamming (“Body of My Own”) and Cyndi Lauper fun (“Famous”). There’s even a heavy series of blazing guitar riffs resting atop Amy Grant pop on “Gold Coins.”
But nothing is as riveting and as intoxicating as the Patrik Berger/Stefan Gräslund-produced “Boom Clap,” a tune that bears a midtempo heartbeat bearing graffiti-like synthpop and one of the catchiest sing-a-long melodies of recent months. Towards the back of the disc there’s “Caught in the Middle,” a Benny Blanco creation that uses some of the key ingredients that makes “Boom Clap” so attractive. It deserves some time in the spotlight.
The album is a bit short on ballads (“Need You Luv,” the album closer, is as slow as it gets), but hey – memorable house parties hardly show signs of slowing down. The album’s title cut may also be the album’s weakest cut. But that’s all right – the rest of the ride is gloriously magnetic, almost as if Taylor Swift had been abducted by a Joan Jett tribute band. Sucker is easily one of the best pop albums to drop in years.
