Ten Years Younger - EP

Album Review

Ten Years Younger is the debut EP from Glasgow's Bubblegum Lemonade, an indie pop project masterminded by Lawrence "Laz" McCluskey that sounds as sticky and refreshing as you'd expect it to be. Bubblegum Lemonade take the shambles and jangles of acts like Primal Scream, Talulah Gosh, and the Orchids and fold the whole shebang in a blanket of sugary reverb, resulting in a set of four really comfy-sounding songs. Granted, this isn't an especially groundbreaking sound, and at first it might seem that Bubblegum Lemonade are no better than the dozens of likeminded indie pop affairs that emerged in the 2000s, many of them on Cloudberry's roster. The difference is, very simply, that Bubblegum Lemonade's songs are just plain good; they're catchy, they're fun, and they manage to sound honest without coming across as overly earnest, self-involved, or pretentious. And that's what makes Ten Years Younger such a promising little disc. Highlights here include the EP's title track, a gentle, fuzzy affair punctuated by synthesized flutes and Strawberry Whiplash cohort Sandra's diaphanous vocals, and "That Thing You Do!," a shy, amiable, lopsided grin of a cover. This EP is just another small reminder of all the great indie pop that's still making its way out of Scotland.