Mister Pop

Clean | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 8, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B002H3ETHI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,886 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kiwi legends resurface for a laid-back reunion LP, September 8, 2009

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mister Pop (Audio CD)

Thirty-one years after their formation, this Dunedin, New Zealand trio is still breathing life into original compositions. Their formation spurred the creation of the legendary Flying Nun label, they drifted apart, broke up and reformed a few times to release singles and EPs throughout the 1980s, and finally waxed their first full length, Vehicle, in 1990. The group's career continued to be marked by dissolutions, side projects and occasional reunions for albums and tours (and live albums of tours), culminating in the 2-CD overview, Anthology, in 2003. This latest reunion album brings together the classic lineup of Kilgour, Kilgour and Scott back to the studio.

The DIY punk-rock and organ-driven pop of the band's lo-fi 4-track works have been refined over the years, with properly recorded studio sessions that include chiming guitars and keyboard drones. Many of these new productions have a psychedelic (or at least lightly drugged) feel, including the Eastern inflected guitar of "Asleep in the Tunnel" and the thick, Pink Floyd styled instrumental raga "Moonjumper." The bulk of "Are You Really on Drugs" and "In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul" are fashioned by repeating their titles as lyrics, the former hypnotizing in the manner of a long stare at ceiling tiles, the latter suggesting time for philosophical rumination. Their music is sinewy and muscular, modern but with the spark of their punk roots.

The Velvet Underground's influence is heard in the monotone dispassion of "Back in the Day," and a variety of instrumentals and instrumental backings include breathy female choruses, dark organ chords, folk-electronica and droning modernism that sounds like a garage rock version of Stereolab. The Clean has evolved organically from its late-70s roots but also taken in the second-hand influences of its members' outside projects. You could draw a straight line back to the melodies of their earlier works, but they're packaged here in slower tempo and trippier tones that are more thought-provoking than mere punk provocation. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return of the Psychedelic Rangers, September 27, 2009

By 

T. J. Hawley (Karamea, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mister Pop (Audio CD)

Eight long years after the patchily brilliant Getaway, The Clean's 5th studio album is an unexpected bonus footnote to their career but more than that it is work both mature (yikes!) and brimming with the exuberance that has been their hallmark for over 30 years. Loog is a highly atmospheric opener dripping with vintage keyboards and celestial vocals drift in and out of the mix. Are You really on Drugs is a little hard to fathom initially but has the (potential) tongue-in-cheek double entendre elements of (say) Jonathan Richman's I'm Straight. But musically it's rather more suggestive of altered states. In the Dream Life you need a Rubber Soul would be worthy of attention just for it's great title but its got one of those innately catchy D-Kilgour hooks which once it gets into your head won't let go. There are more great moments in the second half of the album too and it's joyously short- no over-stayed welcome here. If you know and love the Clean this is an essential purchase!

4.0 out of 5 stars Dream Life, April 14, 2011

By 

John Wraith "Studio Gangsta" (Rural Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mister Pop (Audio CD)

I must have downloaded this album a couple of years ago when I had a lot of other things on my mind and in my iPod. I came across it the other day and put it on and have been listening to it constantly ever since. I have to tell you, it stands up pretty well even with the best of the Clean's post-reunion (from 1990's Vehicle on) material, which I actually think is the best stuff of their storied and awesome career. Mister Pop is a druggy affair, laid-back and psychedelic. Largely gone are the sharp angles and abrasive riffs, but there's a certain mellow genius at work here, a more varied approach. "Asleep in the Tunnel" has a spacey riff and could pass for a track from the Velvets' third album or from Surrealistic Pillow or something else from the darkly wistful corners of the late 60s.

I can't help but think how much a lot of this stuff sounds like late-period stuff from their worshipful proteges in Pavement. "Back in the Day," especially, would feel right at home with the really good stuff on Wowee Zowee or Brighten the Corners (of course the Clean did it all first, but it's a reference point nonetheless). The lyrics here aren't any less inscrutable than Malkmus's, but they are more believable. Take the instant-classic track "In the Dream Life U Need a Rubber Soul" -- the song is mostly just the title repeated over and over, and I'm not sure what it means, but I damn sure believe it when I hear it in the song. I mean, it just makes sense -- in the dream life you probably will need a rubber soul.