The Loves: Technicolour

This new pop collective from Cardiff, Wales has a deep, abiding love for the most sugary, candy-coated concoctions from the ’60s. Tipping their hats to the Monkees, the Archies, Nuggets-era garage rock, and even retro TV theme songs, the Loves just want to have fun and bring back a bit silliness and innocence to pop music. Covering the Muppets classic, “The Rainbow Connection”, without a trace of irony is perhaps surprising in these hipster times where pop’s past can often only be enjoyed ironically. That’s a shame, because the Loves remind us that the three-minute pop song can be a very simple, uncomplicated joy and it need mean nothing more than a little moment of pleasure. There are a lot of catchy tunes here, but “Xs and Os” and “(Gimme Gimme) The Good Times” are the ones that lodge in the brain on repeat.