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The snappily dressed Herr Popp caused quite a stir
with his Swinging Library Sounds EP earlier this year,
and here he goes on to prove he's no flash in the
chrome plated pan, producing a long player of
full-bodied, brassy funk.
In fact Frank Popp seems to
be a blend of fact and fiction, with the classy
artwork on his website painting him as a sports car
driving figure of fun, with more than a whiff of
Starsky and Hutch about him, not to mention
Kevin Keegan.
It turns out the real Frank Popp started out as a
graphic designer, hence the quality drawings, and was
drawn to experimenting with sequencers and samplers,
bringing in his trademark organ sound later on. He has
an unashamedly retro approach that seeks to recreate
the sounds of the 1960s and early 1970s, and it
succeeds handsomely, incorporating modern recording
technology with ease. And although the tracks may
borrow ideas from that period and may even use the odd
sample, inspection of the writing credits reveals they
are in fact Popp's own.
It's often difficult to believe these slabs of
funk, soul and R&B aren't true originals, so good are
the riffs and the immaculate, widescreen production
and orchestration. These players aren't afraid to
indulge themselves either, whether it's the extended
farfisa organ solo of the wonderful Mullett King, or
the cinematic atmospherics laid on for Hurry Up, one
of the best tracks here with its slide guitar. Quite
apart from all this, they're obviously having huge
amounts of fun!
On principal vocal duties is Sam Leigh
Brown, not the most powerful of singers but
possessing a nice edge reminiscent of Lulu.
When she's let loose on the winning lyrics of Hip
Teens Don't Wear Blue Jeans the results are spot on,
no airs or graces.
The real reason for buying this album however is
Popp's arrangements, a joy when turned up loud on the
stereo, with punchy brass (Enough), evocative guitar
work (Hurry Up) or big, big drums (Goo Goo Muck). It's
no surprise to learn that Hip Teens was snapped up by
Coca Cola for an advertising campaign, nor that Popp's
music has seen use in film, with Swordfish a
high profile example.
While some of these tracks may be almost five years
old, when they're recreating a style so successfully
they are in fact timeless, and so this is a good
coming together of Popp's best work so far. More
importantly it's great fun when turned up loud, and
succeeds handsomely in blowing away the cobwebs.
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