Pop Levi Sings Never Never Love

Like The Last Shadow Puppets channelling of an authentic ‘60s sound, Pop Levi is also summoning the ghosts of pop charts past on Pop Levi Sings Never Never Love. “Recorded in my Hollywood kimono, just for you” (always nice to know) the sometimes Ladytron cohort melds a slightly insane mix of ‘70’s glam rock, electro, dub & and ‘80s pop with some contagious melodies and a super-crisp Chinn & Chappman-esque production (by Levi himself). As eccentric as Julian Cope or Sebastian Tellier, Levi's sound recalls, at least as a starting point, T-Rex, Supertramp, Devo, even a little Rupert Hine and David Essex; but his mini-masterpieces are too complex to confine to a short list of possible influences.

On the stomping opener Wannamama he’s Iggy Pop meets Marc Bolan, and although that track doesn’t feature one of his greatest melodies, he more than makes up for it across the album - so much so, that you may find yourself cursing him for locking annoyingly catchy hooks in your head including the stuttering title track and the painfully tender Semi-Babe; I even found myself giving it up to the initially irritating nursery chant of the dubby Call The Operator. His skill at reinventing past, often-neglected, musical styles is masterful. The bewilderingly odd Mai’s Space, although fantastic, may not seem much more innovative than what (Noosha) Fox did in 1975 - it’s a kind of reworking of Imagine Me, Imagine You. But heard in a contemporary context such an unfashionable caprice seems positively trailblazing. There’s an endless amount of highlights to discover like the bizarrely beautiful Love You Straight, the fiery glam of both Dita Dimoné and Fire on Your Feet. Also great is Calling Me Down, which is like Wings-era Paul McCartney, and the glam-tastic OTT drama of Fountain of Lies. Even better, this aural phantasmagoria is one that reveals itself more and more on repeated visits.

Apart from space left for “notes” and lyrics provided in both English and Japanese in the CD booklet he includes a small essay which includes shout outs to “runaway trains”, “mythica Ithaca”, “sweetlips”, “my Christmas present” and “Auntie Mum and the bunny rabbit” - which is all quite logical in the bonkers universe of the terrific Never Never Love. Bless you and your kimono, Pop Levi.

Wayne Davidson