Pom Poko: Champion review – garage rockers finding joy in the everyday

‘Keep driving! Try something!” singer Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit invites on Champion, the title track of Pom Poko’s third album. A serene song from the often-raucous Norwegian indie rock group, her crystalline voice floats over earthy bass and warm harmonies as she names the group’s greatest achievement to date: “Still having fun!”

Named after the cutely sinister Studio Ghibli animation, the four-piece combine surreal, often stream-of-consciousness lyrics with genuinely unpredictable garage rock. Its catchy, tumbling melodies rarely played the same way twice, Champion reflects on Pom Poko’s seven years together. On one of the year’s great drum tracks, My Family marvels at their ability to grow and change as Ola Djupvik’s frenzied efforts rattle and shake and exhilarate, propelling the band skyward.

Having fun, for Pom Poko, is both adrenaline fuelled and sweetly tender; their latest single, Go (“Go, go, go, go, GO!”), is nerve-jangling in a seize-the-day kind of way, with pop-punk chug and heart-skipping percussion. Never Saw It Coming is a buzzy, sarcastic counterweight, an eyeroll at family dramas and awkward parties, while Big Life, a turbulent track about how every dream feels big to the person who dreams it, and raises the stakes with every stormy guitar screech. “This is a big life for me,” Fangel Jamtveit urges.

Pom Poko’s high stakes are those of normal life, the domestic stuff that can make or break our days, years, lives – and get in the way of being a band. Champion is a victory for persistence and playfulness.