Many people would agree The Mint Chicks are the greatest New Zealand band at the moment, but i suppose of those many people a large majority would be my friends, and speaking generally, other persons of youth. The Mint Chicks appeal to the youth cause they play fast, noisy, and rebellious sounds and are enigmatic, all of which appeal to the pimple faced youth of this day. With the release of their 3rd Album it marks a sense of maturity both in the psyche of the band and their audience as they release a collection of well written and heart warming pop songs.

 After conquering the New Zealand music industry "officially" by cleaning the the NZ music awards with their second album, "Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!", they decided to kiss NZ good bye and set sail for Portland, Oregon US and have a crack at recording the album their instead. With the move they also lost their bassist Michael Logie and decided to avoid the hard task of replacing him and venture on as a three piece. So this album is evidently a product of the Mint Chicks in a new world with new vibes and coping without a bassist. 

It is most definitely a pop album or as the guitarist Ruban Neilson puts Trouble Gum pop,  a play on the genre Bubble Gum pop. It makes sense when you listen closely to the lyrics with lines like "confused by the consequences, confused around the noose around your neck" in the first single "I can't stop being foolish" or "so listen closely to your enemies, they know what's best for you, they'll find a place for you" in "Enemies". Thus, they are incorporating dark themes into their lyrics within lovely catchy bubble gum pop tunes.

They've always had an ability to write some great catchy melodies and this album is full of them, painted among some truly wonderful and creative riffs and chord progressions. Each song holds it own and are all possible single options and it proves that the group are as strong as ever in their songwriting and arranging abilities. As i was saying before about the maturity of the band and the audience, I think they've realized that they can't be like At the drive in and play as fast and loud as you can forever, but found the power of harmony and progressions and the craft of good songwriting a good analogy to their past work. As for the audience, accepting the bands vocations and enjoying their work is maturity in itself and a harmless way of appreciating a band that their fond of. 

The album sounds very lo-fi, as if conjuring the sounds of their first album, "Fuck the golden youth", however, there is feint  tinge of modern sprinkled throughout the tracks with the help of analog auto-tune and auto harmonizer(No vocoder was used according to their website). To me I think it sounds great and adds a another dimension to the void left by the absence of the bass. The guitar also sounds great with the use of an octave pedal to get a fatter and deeper sound to also fill the void of no bass, and his playing is astounding, with great original fret board wizardry. The arrangements are exceptional like the unexpected Zelda inspired bridge of "Red, White or Blue", which sounds like it belongs on a fantasy game more than a mint chicks album, however, it seems to work very well. "2010" which at 2 minutes and 39 seconds, packs in a lot interesting and memorable parts keeping the ears interested throughout. The more conventional structured songs are the most catchy, such as, "Don't sell your brain out, Baby", which sounds like a Lennon/ McCartney approach to song writing. 

With the change of environment, the loss of a bassist, and the pressure to offer a follow up to their hugely successful second album, I think they've triumphantly delivered a strong album, cementing them as one of NZ's greatest bands.

8/10