Charly Bliss - Guppy

If it's true that listening to just the right record at just the right moment can psychically transport you to some other time and place, then Charly Bliss - an NYC band responsible for having crafted some of the finest guitar-crunched power pop this side of an old Weezer record with a blue cover - can pretty much turn any space into an adult-friendly version of your old teenage bedroom, a candy-scented safe space for extreme fits of happiness and angsty teen-level explosions of romantic ennui. The ten tracks that make up Guppy, Charly Bliss' sparking full-length debut, show the band embracing all of their strengths - a combination of ripping guitars and irrepressible pop hooks, all delivered with the hyper-enthusiasm of a middle school cafeteria food fight. That every track is loaded front-to-back with sing/shout-worthy lyrics and earworm melodies is a testament to the band's commitment to the art form of pop songwriting. Guppy is a record that doesn't so much seek to reinvent the pop wheel so much as gleefully refine it.