Cassette Review // Pocket Of Lollipops "Be My Non-Friend Friend"

$6 //
Edition of 50 //
https://pocketoflollipops.bandcamp.com/album/be-my-non-friend-friend-2019 //

Big pianos start this cassette off but then it feels darker when it kicks in.   Right away I am reminded of a band such as One-Eyed Doll, but also a little bit of Nirvana somehow.   I am first taken by the lyrics "You told me no empathy" (Which seems ripped right from my diary) and "I'm swimming / my lips are chapped / and I am cold" which I kind of just like for the specific randomness of it.

Trippy electronics have me thinking of Period Bomb in the sense that maybe they don't sound exactly sound the same but would be great on stage together (or a split cassette)   "Lavender Canary" starts off more like L7.   It breaks down into this pop rock song somehow though, which takes me for a turn.    Dueling vocals really make me begin to think of Pollens and, yes, we need more artists like Pollens in this world.

"You should pop that balloon if I'm better than you" and "My cookie's all chewed up" stand out as lyrics for me.   "Tiny Pants" has a bit of spoken word and yet is also somehow dreamy.   Trippy guitars begin drifting, without words, on "Tiny Pants" as well.   It picks up into this walking rhythm before it ends.

On the flip side we kick off things with what sounds like screaming, birds and some other odd sounds on "Face Value".    Then it kicks into that weirdo pop rock from earlier, like Pollens, but there are other artists in here coming through, like B-52's.    Just really blissed out rock now, songs within songs.   Almost a carousel feel as well.   There is a cool bass line on the titular track and, yes, they sing the title (which I enjoy)

This one also rocks like punk at times and when we get into "Anise Blvd" it's more of spoken word over music, like it's telling a story.  Grinding distortion through the speaking.  "What have you been up to?" These lines are all buried in here, one by one, for me to hit or else I've failed in properly writing about this cassette.   "I left my wallet at my friend's house" and then it kicks in like Mudhoney.   This song is wild but also ends on what might best describe this cassette overall in the term distorted melodies.