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RIP the Haunted Graffiti. It‰’s sad to accept, but Ariel Rosenberg‰’s decade long project, Ariel Pink‰’s Haunted Graffiti, takes a tiny hiatus for his new solo album, pom pom. Ariel Pink‰’s Haunted Graffiti gave us great party/karaoke classics like “Round and Round‰Û, “Every Night I Die at Miyagis‰Û, “Live it up‰” and probably every single track out of House Arrest. He even covered “Baby‰” originally by the Emerson brothers, which is by far one of the sexiest songs out there.

But, while the Haunted Graffiti says goodbye for a while, pom pom comes backs to Ariel‰’s roots of hi-fi silly pop, testing his listeners with his retro/virtuoso dialogues and LA 80‰’s sounds.

I can understand that people don‰’t like the album at first, it definitely is something quite different; but if you simply hate Ariel Pink or the Haunted Graffiti, then you‰’re probably wasting your time reading this. It has always been extremely challenging to categorize Ariel under one genre, due to his versatile style. He has gone through so many changes since the beginning of his career: starting with his hypnagogic rock phase with Lover Boy and House Arrest till his one of his masterpieces, Before Today . Today, he remains being the king of alternative pop lo-fi and great hair color/styles.

However, if it is your first time listening to the pom pom or any Ariel related material, you‰’re definitely in for a ride. This album is full of bizarre absurdity and scenes of bars with neon light and lots of cocaine. You‰’ll either love it or hate it. You can find the 1 minute long conversations funny or not. The album might be too long or not. It‰’s definitely a hit or miss. 

The childish synths and tones during “Plastic Raincoats in the Pig Parade‰” can be a throw off, but the catchiness of pop tunes can‰’t really stop your head from bopping. “Lipstick‰” sounds straight off Odditties Sodomies Vol.1 , really showing how he‰’s trying to reach out to 08‰’-09‰’ Ariel. The creepy synths and smooth percussions show off his weird sexiness that will captivate anyone into a hot make out session.

The first sneak peak he gave of pom pom was “Put Your Number In My Phone‰Û, anticipating a great 60‰’s love hit. We‰’ve all experienced that struggle of getting that special someone‰’s number, and Ariel just made us a favor by making a song about it. With his genuine lyrics like “Talk to me, it‰’s now or never…. Put your number in my phone, I hope to get some time alone, I want to get to know you more‰Û, he won everyone‰’s heart. 

Then, “Goth Bomb‰” happens, maybe just as a reminder that Ariel was once a lo-fi rock artist (Scared Famous and FF>>). Aggressive but always very sure about his epic rough vocals and guitar solos, “Goth Bomb‰” serves as a perfect transition to the second and best part of the album.

Starting with “Sexual Athletics‰” (a name that would come out of any Sebastien Tellier record), the best songs out of the album are about to start happening. The heavy bassline, Santana-like guitar and sexy groove speak to the “Sex King on the velvet swing‰” in the song. The lullaby intermission/ ending is just a confirmation of the surealness of the album (trust me). 

“Jell-o‰” is just straight up mockery with a great guitar riff at the end, which makes you picture yourself driving a HOT PINK convertible through downtown L.A. Followed by a funky 80‰’s synth, “Black Ballerina‰” grooves away featuring Shot Gun Billy and One Eyed Willie and their adventure visiting a Los Angeles strip club. 

Ariel decides to leave his best song for the end though, making “Dayzed Inn Daydreams‰” the gem out of pom pom. Crowned as a pretty dramatic pop song with a drastic (yet amazing) change in beat during the middle of the song, Ariel includes some type of soul-sounding vocals, giving “Dayzed Inn Daydreams‰” the unexpected groove that his best songs contain.

Being always such a controversial character and celebrity, this album should be just a confirmation of his odd yet genius perception of music. And this is precisely what makes pom pom one of the best albums of 2014, how different and unique it is. By the end of the album you‰’ll probably be tired of his peculiar narratives and overwhelming keyboards, but his glam weirdness is undeniable. We‰’ll be waiting for his next hair color.