Power Pop continues to be 2nd Grade Valedictorian
Power pop is the kind of music that seems deceptively simple. Power chords, hand-clapping rhythms, and irresistible hooks are at their absolute peak when they feel like an effortless dose of fun—even if there’s a sweet, underlying longing in the melody. It is easy to dismiss the genre, and consequently, it is easy to take a band like 2nd Grade for granted.
For five albums, songwriter and producer Peter Gill has established himself as a premiere source for this nostalgic sound. But with their latest record, Girls and Boys, the band didn’t just deliver another album; they introduced a delightfully quirky framework to their proceedings. The album features twenty songs organized into a curious structure: ten songs about girls and ten about boys, with half sung by a female voice and half by a male voice.
Initially, the concept made some worry that the band might be leaning too heavily into novelty. After all, the sweetness of power pop can easily sour when a band gets too cute. Yet, 2nd Grade proved that this is not the case. They managed to incorporate this playful structure without sacrificing musical integrity.
The result is a collection of twenty songs that collectively showcase Peter Gill’s incredible knack for crafting melodies that evoke genuine nostalgia without ever feeling dated. The jangly guitars and gentle harmonies on tracks like Anywhere Girls and Cellophane Girls rival the best in the genre, yet they race ahead with a refreshing speed.
The band smartly modernized the core sound. The drums inject a more contemporary, frenetic energy that pushes their performances into a series of hypnotic musical rhythms. This update is evident in tracks like Glacial Boys, which expertly blends a Big Star-esque vocal melody with a fuzzier, chugging baseline. Even the interplay between male and female vocals on Upstream Girls hints that the band exists somewhere between classic power pop and the very current indie rock landscape.
Beyond the flawless execution of the music, 2nd Grade found a fresh angle on lyrical themes. Their songwriting frequently manages to be both culturally specific and clever without ever slipping into kitsch. Lines like I want to throw a chair like Oliver Reed in the 1970s or They put up a new McDonald’s where the old McDonald’s used to be immediately stick in the mind. Even the seemingly simple thought, Phone keys wallet charger headphones, I guess I’m ready to go, becomes a surprisingly relatable mantra.
Underneath the catchy tunes is an anxious stream of consciousness, capturing the nervous thoughts of people desperately trying to maintain smiles amid the chaos of modern life. Each song achieves this remarkable feat: it is simultaneously a reassuringly bright earworm and a subtly dark reflection.
Twond Grade doesn’t just follow the established tropes of power pop; they use them as a springboard. They take the expected formula and make it look simple, but in doing so, they prove just how talented they truly are. They understand the essence of the genre, and they deliver it with masterful precision.
Buy on Amazon
Credit
