Pop Free are a fresh band from the Santa Ana, California area. Theirs is a musical brand that is big on energy, eccentricity, and melody. Even their visual aesthetics reflect their collective idiosyncratic vibe. Pop Free are both flowery and offbeat, colorful, and subtly aggressive. As singer Jacob Beaver puts it, “We write from personal experience.” And they’ve caught the attention of many, including New Morality Zine who is set to release the band’s six-song EP, Spring.
Now don’t get it twisted. Spring, while the band’s debut for NMZ, is hardly their first offering. In fact, Pop Free have been prolific enough since their inception as a band. From the 2022 four-song demo release through 2024’s The Dream Was a Lie LP release, Pop Free have written and recorded consistently and with a sense of determined progression. This isn’t a band for musical formulas. They push their own sound on every song.
Spring itself is a dynamic EP, offering many dimensions to Pop Spring’s sound. “New Year,” for example, is an upbeat and frenetic song that uses choppy start-stop guitar riffs combined with quirky leads and poppy drums to move the song forward, while Jacob’s vocals introduce the listener to his high-pitched but absolutely fun cadences. Vocally, the song is a great example of how Jacob cleverly balances his singing with just enough of a screamy urgency that gives the sound enough aggression to complement the melody of the music.
Perhaps most interestingly is that, despite the seeming poppiness of the music, the song’s lyrics focus on powerful political content. “‘New Year’ is about feeling frustrated with the state of our nation sparked from the reelection of Trump,” Jacob offers. There’s something compelling and crafty about weaving such poignant lyrical content into an otherwise fun-sounding song. Not everything needs to be so overtly on the surface. Sometimes the power is in the subtlety. Pop Free certainly understands that.
The record’s fifth song, “Siren,” is more mid-tempo in its opening delivery, giving the vocals a chance to slow down. In doing so, Pop Free shows off their ability to write what is really a very single-esque track here. “Siren” is a listener-friendly song in that it isn’t entrenched in specific genre or sound. It’s just a catchy and fun song. The muted guitars that wash through the middle of the song segue back to Jacob’s great vocal stylings before the entire song gets back to those super catchy opening melodies.
The song’s lyrical content is introspective and thoughtful. Jacob reflects, “‘Siren’ is about holding back or hiding your concerns just not to upset someone and how it can burn down a relationship.” Honest and relatable, those sorts of lyrics only endear Pop Free more to the listener. This is my favorite of the bunch largely because of the song’s ability to suck me in and get stuck in my head, and to give voice to the sorts of emotional situations so many of us have found ourselves in at some point.
What Pop Free offer us here is an off-center and distinct release. Spring is a collection of songs that needn’t fit a particular genre, but instead simply keep the listener interested. And that interest is cultivated by skillful and adroit musicianship, and good lyrical content. This release is very much worth your time no matter your proclivities in the underground.
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Spring is available now via New Morality Zine.
Tagged: pop free
