On the surface of things, there is much reason for fans of Jennifer & Jessica Clavin’s former band, Mika Miko, to feel rather surprised and disappointed the direction they’ve taken with Bleached.

Coming straight from the raw and acerbic, early ‘80s inclined sorta twitchy punk of their previous outfit, the sudden miraculous conversion to breezy, beach-inclined, hyper-melodic guitar pop seen here could easily seem a pretty cynical move – zeroing on the relative success achieved in that style by geographic peers like Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls, and riding it straight onto…. whatever phrase stands in for “the airwaves” these days as a signifier of quasi-mainstream public acceptance.

It would be a lot easier to write them off however were it not for the fact that ‘Ride Your Heart’ is actually really bloody good – a totally solid album that’s easily one of the best things this sorta ‘LA beach girl guitar-pop’ micro-genre has ever produced. The essence of the band’s punk background is nicely preserved, as drummer Dan Allaire helps lay down a solid, forward-moving backbeat reminiscent of The Wipers, whilst the Clavins’ guitars chop and strum and jangle and chime in extremely pleasing, multi-layered fashion. Melodies remain “aiming for the chart breakthrough” level sugar-coated throughout, but such an approach is handled in best possible fashion, retaining the kind of momentum and sense of purpose previously harnessed by bands like The Nerves and Shivvers back in the skinny-tie era.

And, whilst Bleached’s sing-song choruses and lovelorn, boy-focused lyrics may seem off-puttingly vapid on first approach, after a few listens I started to get a very genuine emotional hit from a lot of these tunes, ‘specially the Fleetwood Mac-ish gravity of songs like ‘Dreaming Without You’ and ‘Outta My Mind’. Basically, I think there’s a lot more depth here than detractors might assume, and certainly enough classic pop muscle to stop the band ever falling into dreary, Best Coast-style solipsism.

To be honest, I’ve really heard very little in the pop-punk kinda sphere that’s struck a chord with me in the past few years, but these guys are definitely hitting all the right bases, and, regardless of their intentions, they’ve taken on convincing ownership of their chosen style and made one hell of a good album.

Check out press blurb and previews via Dead Oceans, or pick up from yr usual places.

Labels: best of 2013, Bleached