Utah, the 45th state, better known for its Mormonism, has been producing pop, rock, and metal of late.
The four-member band Neon Trees from Provo, a city of close to 120,000, has been together since 2006. The group’s lead singer is Tyler Glenn, guitarist is Chris Allen, drummer/singer is Elaine Bradley, and bassist is Branden Campbell.
Pop Psychology, the group’s third studio album, was released on April 22 of this year on Mercury and Def Jam Records. The album is both serious and silly, with many youthful references.
Pop Psychology begins with bluesy-rock, humorous vocals in the a pop rock song “Love in the 21st Century.” The song is about the mystery of love, adding that some of the triviality is owed to the new age, and “broken-heart technology.”
The song ends with, “Your kisses taste so sweet, but then you click “delete”. Whoah, oh. Love in the twenty-first century. I’m in the twenty-first century.”
The album’s lead single “Sleeping with a Friend” is about the dangers of allowing a good, platonic relationship to turn romantic. The heart of the song can be summed up with the bridge: “We are both young, hot-blooded people/ We don’t wanna die alone/ Two become one, it could be lethal/ Sleeping with a friend.”
The music video for the song, posted on January 24, 2014 by NeonTreesVEVO, has nearly 4 million views on YouTube. The video has a few scenes with lead singer Tyler and drummer Elaine laying in bed pretty platonically, and fully dressed.
The second single released from the album is a song called “I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends).” It is a sort of goofy song, but with a bit of sultry sexiness. The song opens with, “I drew my name in lipstick on a mirror at your sister’s house. She told me I was strange, I told her “thanks,” and kissed her on the mouth.”
“First Things First” is an autobiographical piece from the life of Tyler Glenn to motivate listeners to get what they deserve from life, and not necessarily what they want. It is the album’s longest track at 5:03 minutes.
The fourth single is a funny and uptempo piece called “Text Me In The Morning.” In the first verse, the scene begins after a night of dancing. The singer’s date has taken off her dress, but the singer leaves in a hurry with: “Text me in the morning.”
In the second verse, his date scolds him, making him remember that his mother told him not to be an overachiever. The singer answers, “I please her, oh please girl, I never did believe her.” Then yet again tells her to text him in the morning.
Pop Psychology is not hard or edgy, yet it manages to thrill and entice, not the easiest of tricks in today’s music world.
Dahnje Marceo
Staff Writer
dmarceo@ucmerced.com