The Clean - Mister Pop (2009)

Link removed by request

Mister Pop is The Clean’s first new studio album since 2001’s Getaway.

The New York Times described The Clean: “This New Zealand band, which has been going off and on since 1978, plays a jangly, damaged kind of guitar pop and was a primary influence on Pavement and Yo La Tengo, and therefore virtually all of current indie rock.” In 2003, we released Anthology, the 2-disc compilation of tracks and song cycles from across The Clean’s musical career. Anthology was chosen by Blender Magazine as one of the 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever.

Mister Pop sees The Clean continue the great pop pastiche. Circus ragas (“Moonjumper”), gorgeously hazy sunset anthems (“In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul”), and the sometimes-loose Dada approach to wordsmithery continue right alongside “proper” lyrical forays, and a few Autobahn-referential instrumental moments to boot (“Tensile”). Bob’s love of pastoral UK folk has brought some added weight into the overall Clean equation, as does David’s Eastern and African guitar jones, though all this has always fit in with—and still constitutes—the total basis of the Clean sound journey.