For those of us in northern England, the word ‘champion’ might have a different meaning than to other people. “Aye, it’s champion” symbolises a grudging respect, a down-to-earth admission that something is pretty good, rather than the triumphalism of Queen’s or a sporting crowd’s boast of “We Are The Champions”. For Norwegian band, Pom Poko, the title of their third album has a more ironic meaning. It considers what it means to be a champion, that it is admissible to adhere to your own rules, satisfy yourself and not feel an overwhelming desire to take over the world.
That sense of contentedness is apparent in a record that is distinctly calmer than 2019’s, “Birthday”, which was the year’s most exciting debut, or its 2021 follow-up, ‘Cheater’. This is all relative as those records were bursting with wild energy, shards of post-punk noise performed with a math-rock precision. It was clear from their earliest recordings that Pom Poko are extremely talented musicians. This time they harness it to a less cluttered approach, evidenced on opening track, ‘Growing Story’, which develops the album’s themes of growth, development and acceptance of containing multitudes in a powerful song. Musically its closest reference point would be Deerhoof in its perforated guitar and angular rhythms.
‘My Family’ posits the idea of the band as each other’s family, Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit’s vocals being particularly outstanding and Martin Miguel Almagro Tonne’s twisted guitar manoeuvres especially searing. In contrast, the title track is far less frenetic and as close as Pom Poko come to soothing, led by bassist Jonas Krøvel’s steady groove.
‘You’re Not Helping’ has staccato bursts, guitar noise and displays drummer Ola Djupvik’s capacity to hold everything together, almost contorting himself to match the tempo changes. ‘Pile of Wood’ manages to switch from a gentle vocal melody to swathes of guitar.
‘Bell’ represents the album’s calm midpoint, a drop in tempo and a willingness to let the song stand on the basis of its lovely vocal melody. At odds with this approach, ‘Go’ is a song about life seeming like a messy never-ending to-do list and which combines string harmonics on both guitar and bass with uneven musical periods at breakneck speed, it is the song that would have most comfortably fitted onto ‘Birthday’.
‘Never Saw It Coming’ has Jamtveit suggesting reluctance with the lines, “if there is a party, will you come and get me”, battling out with Tonne’s guitar slithering and sliding like a bundle of snakes. ‘Druid, Fox and Dragon’ has a title which suggests a prog epic but instead has superb concise guitar harmonics and a strength to the melody which is not normally the quality most associated with Pom Poko.
‘Big Life’ starts with Jamtveit recounting witnessing someone being arrested for speeding as the guitar is at its most atonal while the rhythm section develops a frenetic pace. Closing track, ‘Fumble’, is a beguiling piece which ends with Jamtveit returning to one of the album’s themes stating, “you’re the one that feels like family”.
On first listen, ‘Champion’ felt less instantaneously mind-blowing than its predecessors. However, any doubts are swept away on subsequent listens as there is a confidence and ease on display, together with a heightened melodicism twinned with showers of rhythmic craziness, that make for a winning combination. By any definition, it is definitely champion.
Pom Poko: Champion – Out 16th August 2024 (Bella Union)
Poko – My Family [official music video] (youtube.com)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
