Not Just for Weirdness’ Sake

There are various reasons an artist may create an eccentric alter-ego. Some use it as an opportunity to veer away from the mainstream. Some are intrinsically introverted, and they need a façade to be able to appear in public. Some are legitimately eccentric, and some may worry that they won’t be heard otherwise. LA’s Ariel Pink (ne Ariel Marcus Rosenberg) combines the last two – he is, to put it kindly, an odd duck, and his peculiar brand of weirdo-pop is consistent with his persona. One without the other would be incongruous and confusing. On his latest LP, pom pom, Ariel Pink shows why his approach is both effective and polarizing: you love him or you hate him, but either way, he gets a reaction.

The opening notes of “Plastic Raincoats in the Pig Parade” smell like Los Angeles. Flowery, bouncy, happy. The melody is cute as hell, and Ariel Pink’s helium-tinged voice along with the welcomingly cacophonic “oh yeah oh yeah” in the middle drive the point home: you’re gonna have fun, like it or not! On “White Freckles,” Ariel treats us to a frantic prof-pop riff, before devolving to a new-wave verse,and then harkening back to a mess of sound effects.

He cites Bauhaus and The Cure as influences. Fair enough; “Four Shadows” channels Peter Murphy, and “Lipstick” contains elements of Boys Don’t Cry. But his chameleon-like presentation and calculated arrangements have more in common with Frank Zappa than with Andrew Eldritch. On “One Summer Night,” he lowers his vocal register to match the doo-wop feel of the song, and “Nude Beach A Go-Go” is deceptively complex, especially for a pastiche surf-rock song.

Like Zappa, Ariel Pink obscures his intricacies with decorations, in the form of sound effects, funny voices, unusual instruments and an outrageous character. But at its core, pom pom is full of musical twists and treats, none of which could have happened by accident. The album ends with the surprisingly rich and beautiful “Dayzed Inn Daydreams,” leaving the listener with the certainty that beneath all of the smoke and masks is an artist with a story to tell.