Album Reviews

Dive Deep Into “LOVETAP!” by Smallpools: It’s a Splash of Fun!

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In 2013, the Los Angeles-based indie pop band Smallpools first got their feet wet in the alternative music scene with “Dreaming,” their infectious debut single that oozes with synth goodness.

In July of 2013, their self-titled EP Smallpools was released, containing a minute puddle of musical offerings in addition to their successful first single: the folk-like “Mason Jar,” euphoric “Over & Over,” and “No Story Time” that concluded the release with a happy ending.

It’s been a long twenty months, but as of March 24, 2015, a new prescription has hit the market for Smallpools music addicts via RCA Records: LOVETAP!

The record begins with a fast-paced and upbeat track “American Love” that not only travels from energetic chants to ethereal guitar breaks, but it also speaks about flying to Milan with an exotic love interest.

Smallpools literally slaughters it with “Killer Whales,” the ever-so-catchy lead single and second track from LOVETAP! If there’s anything that Smallpools knows how to do musically, it’s taking a song with depressing lyrics and coupling it with music that makes listeners want to get up and dance.

Fans will find themselves continuing to bust a move to their debut track “Dreaming” and “Karaoke,” an empowering second single off the full-length release that is specifically catered toward the invincible who live for nights on the town with good friends. The positive vibes continue in “Street Fight,” to which frontman Sean Scanlon offers to be his friend’s “Bruce Lee” in times of need. This song is probably the only reason anyone will ever witness the late martial artist being used as a metaphor, and a clever one at that!

Smallpools gives fans a trip down memory lane with “Mason Jar” and “Over & Over,” two tunes from their debut EP that were bound to make listeners fall in love with them in the first place. Kudos to the band for keeping both songs together on the album like they were on the EP. The two really are a perfect match.

The remainder of the album begins to wind down with the title track “Lovetap!,” the curious and repetitive “What’s That a Picture Of?,” hopeful “Dyin’ to Live,” yearning “Admission to Your Party,” the analytical “9 To 5,” and the familiar “No Story Time.”

Smallpools gives fans just a drop more of their talent with “(Submarine),” a dreamy blend of guitar riffs, synths, and indecipherable vocals that will leave listeners pondering in awe at the fact that the album is actually over when it feels like it just began.

For having fourteen songs, the LOVETAP! party sure does go by fast, but Smallpools will never fail to make the fun last with a debut album that is as replayable as it is easy to dance to.

Go ahead and dive deep into Smallpools. The water is fine!