People Talk, the single that
Punks on Mars released a few months before
Bad Expectations arrived, hinted that Ryan Howe's sci-fi power pop might be a lot less lo-fi than it was before, but that's just the beginning of the changes ushered in by this album. For starters,
Punks on Mars have a more fleshed-out, four-piece lineup to match their more polished sound, so the glitter sparkles even more brightly and there's more crunch to the punk on these songs. Nowhere is this more apparent than on "Hey! Tiffany," which first appeared on a January 2012 single and remains one of the band's most powerful pieces of pop, only now its "Pictures of Lily"-style guitar slashing and blippy keyboards sound even brighter and tighter. The addition of bassist/vocalist Andrea Schiavelli adds yet another dimension to the band's sound, especially on "You Do, You Don't," where her girl-group toughness and yearning provide the perfect counterpoint to Howe's sparkly rock & roll fantasies. The synth-driven interludes that dotted Punks on Mars are relegated to the sidelines on
Bad Expectations, as is some of the sci-fi storytelling -- although "The Sad Toy" is a notable exception -- in favor of a bevy of hard-edged pop songs like the fey "Chandelier" and "Showers of Pain," which crams heartbreak, tumbling riffs, and a thunderstorm into just 80 seconds. It's obvious that Howe and company are hyper-literate when it comes to pop history: "Tabloid Tomorrow" is more than a bit
Kinks-y, and not just because it involves a girl named Victoria, while "Poltergeist" and "Is It Me?" are great examples of just how much angst churns underneath power pop's shiny riffs. However, what makes
Punks on Mars interesting is their willingness to turn that knowledge on its ear, especially on the duet "She's a Glitterpunk" and the final rave-up, "Little Runaway," both of which salute teenage dreams and rock-star moves as much as they send them up. However they play it,
Punks on Mars sound retro, fresh, and completely catchy on
Bad Expectations, and the album's only drawback -- if it can be called that -- is just how breathlessly full of fast-paced, hook-laden songs it is from beginning to end. Howe's switch from lo-fi to hi-def takes a bit of getting used to, since
Punks on Mars' earlier music had an evocative, staticky quality that lived up to his project's name, but receiving his transmissions louder and clearer can only be a good thing.
Bad Expectations might be the band's second album, but it feels like the beginning of something bigger and better for
Punks on Mars. ~ Heather Phares