Pom Poko - Cheater (LP) - Clear Vinyl

Pom Poko’s second album, Cheater, landed on 15 January 2021 via Bella Union, and it still feels like a sugar rush you can’t quite catch. The Norwegian quartet keep their art-punk and math-pop instincts front and centre, but there’s more bite and better balance here than on their debut. It’s the sound of a band leaning into chaos with care, using sharp hooks as the safety rope.

If you’ve seen them live you’ll know the chemistry. Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit’s voice can flip from sing-song sweet to a fierce yelp in a blink, and that dynamism drives these songs. Martin Miguel Almagro Tonne’s guitar is all elastic lines and jagged harmonics, while Jonas Krøvel’s bass and Ola Djupvik’s drums dart and tumble with a dancer’s sense of space. On Cheater that interplay is captured with a clarity that flatters the frenzy. The record was released through Bella Union, the label steered by Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins, and it carries that imprint’s ear for colour without sanding off the splinters.

The singles set the tone. Like A Lady is as immediate as they come, a bright, fizzy tune that lures you in with a chantable hook before the band starts yanking the floorboards. The rhythm section plays tag with the beat, the guitar answers with needling riffs, and Ragnhild rides it all with a melody that stays lodged in your head. Andrew is the other big earworm, a little stranger around the edges, with a stop start lilt that makes the chorus pop even harder when it lands. The title track goes for speed and tension, like a sprint through a maze, and shows how tight they are as a unit. None of it feels fussy, even when the time signatures get knotty. The trick is that the songs always win.

Cheater also shows a knack for pacing. There are moments where they let the air in, so the spikes feel sharper when they return. You can hear how comfortable they are playing with contrast, moving from glassy guitar figures to gnarlier overdrive, from a coo to a cry, without losing the melody. It is a very Norwegian thing, this blend of precision and play, and Pom Poko do it with a grin. They have said in interviews that writing as a group is central to their identity, and you can tell, the parts lock in like a conversation rather than a stack of overdubs. Marcus Forsgren’s production keeps it punchy and loud, yet leaves room for the little details, the muttered count in, the string scrape before the downbeat.

If you’re crate digging, Cheater on Pom Poko vinyl is a treat. The arrangements are so percussive and wiry that a decent pressing really brings out the clatter and shimmer, especially on those snare cracks and the springy low end. It is the kind of record that makes you want to nudge the volume up a notch or two, then a little more. For anyone browsing a Melbourne record store on a Saturday, coffee in hand, this is the sleeve you pull because the colours jump out, then you keep because side A doesn’t let go. And if you like to buy Pom Poko records online, Cheater vinyl is one you will actually spin, not just shelve for show.

Context helps, too. The band’s 2019 debut Birthday marked them as ones to watch, but Cheater feels like the moment they figured out how to bottle the gig. The writing is tighter, the choruses hit harder, and the mischief is more focused. There is still plenty of squeal and sideways movement, but the songs feel lived in. That is why it connected with fans who found them through festival clips and late night radio alike. It is also why Pom Poko albums on vinyl are building a loyal following among people who want their shelves to sound a little unruly.

Cheater is not a polite record, and that is its charm. It is bright, fast, and just a bit feral, yet never careless. If your taste runs to guitars that jolt and vocals that leap, this is a keeper. In a world of over-arranged indie pop, Pom Poko keep the edges rough and the tunes sharp, and it makes all the difference. For anyone here in vinyl records Australia land looking to add something fizzy and fearless to the stack, Cheater is a smart pick.