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Helen Love

title

The Bubblegum Killers EP

label

Sympathy for the Record Industry

format
CD5

Helen Love CD coverHelen Love are a band from Wales that have a Ramones obsession and a killer sound of their own.

Just as the Ramones sound never changed (except for more elaborate productions as their popularity surged), Helen Love have a pop punk formula and have stuck to it for many years. This formula has not failed yet, and this EP is a joy - every single song is great.

The current lineup includes Helen Love on vocals, Corrine Love on vocals, Sheena Love on guitars and Beth Love on keyboards. This is the first release with Corrine. she sings Saturday Night Kicks and (The Continuing Adventures Of) The Girl About Town.

  • Helen Love: Crashed her car the first time she heard a Helen Love song on the radio.
  • Sheena Love: Was in love with Joey Ramoney.
  • Beth Love: Lived next door to Helen, which led to them joining forces.

If you ever loved Thee Headcoatees, you will adore Helen Love. The Helen Love sound has female vocals, buzzsaw guitars, tambourines, casio, lots of glam beats and a super upbeat feel. The songs have fun lyrics and sharp melodies.

Every song on this EP rules:

Debbie Loves Joey is a love song about a couple 'They said they'd live in New York, and the stars could be their own, She was Debbie Harry and he was Joey Ramone.' The keyboards that start off the song sound like The Cars. The song cooks along and is near perfect.

Corrine's vocal debut Saturday Night Kicks is classic Helen Love. On the chorus she uses the vocal effect that Cher made famous on Believe.

Boy Like You is another irresistible song with an early Blondie sound and a casio trumpet part. The tambourine beat makes you move.

Better Pop Your Bubblegum is the fastest song on the EP. A vocoder voice says pop your bubblegum for the first half of the track, then the guitar does a two note lead that sounds like The Clash on their first LP.

(The Continuing Adventures Of) The Girl About Town starts off with a synth part kind of like soft Cell Tainted love, then kicks into Ace singing 'Back in the New York' from Ace Frehley's New York Groove. Then Corrine comes in with fantastic vocals that tell her story and make you listen closely.

My favorite song is the last song, Wigwambam. On top of an actual recording of Sweet's Wig Wam Bam, Helen Love play their song

See that boy out in the summer sun
he makes me pop my bubblegum
I think about him baby all the time
one day that boy is gonna be all mine

Added to the Sweet/Helen Love stew is Joey Ramone saying Hey Ho, Let's Go from Blitzkrieg Bop. All these elements are woven together so well that the song wants for nothing.

An amazing EP. You've GOT to buy it! - Summer sun perfection.

---Carl, June 7, 2005