Power-pop has either had a resurgence in the last 2-3 years or I have simply become less jaded with the formula as wonderful acts such as Dropkick and Kevin Robertson have offered the overtly pretty, Mo Troper has added a much needed sense of spuriousness, and young acts such as 2nd Grade have started to wrestle the genre away from the middle-aged paisley shirts and their lust for all things 70s and 80s.

Groa, Norway’s The High Water Marks, have been a mainstay at the superb Minty Fresh Records since returning from an eight-year hiatus in 2020 and releasing three albums that sit perfectly between all the cracks and crevices of the above-mentioned power-pop nuances, whilst somehow managing to keep their feet firmly planted in all manner of 90s genres and sounds like some sort of musical octopus.

As such, tracks best represented by American Candy, I Could Never Be A Vigilante,  and the title track offer a compelling aesthetic in which power-pop melodies fight with the driven incessance of Superchunk and the fuzziest end of Built To Spill’s catalogue.

Such energetic freneticism is also a key to the excellence of An Imposed Exile, A Love Story in Lower Maths, China Aster, and N’er Do Well, which all feel more traditional in their Jody and the Jerms-style 80s and 90s power-pop appeal.

However, the very best of the album is heard in Stork, Terror and Erebus, and Stand In Line. Here the sound moves as close to indie-pop as The High Water Marks power-pop persuasions will ever allow it, as the subtle disinterested female vocals of so many 80s and 90s anglophile indie-pop acts add a tender smoothness to the always omnipotent rock riffs.

One of the most underrated power-pop acts around is just getting more vital with every release.

OUR FAVOURITES

SOCIAL MEDIA

INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

FULL RELEASE