david k frampton

As we wait the imminent arrival of Deftones ‘Diamond Eyes’, and bearing in mind its rich collision of mostrous riffs and polished choruses, I am becoming mindful of that dirty concept…’heavy pop.’ Heavy pop is an exercise often utilised by hard rock/metal bands who tire of the template that they created, be it noise-rock, grunge, stoner-rock, grind and begin to iron out the edges and go pop. When Helmet returned to action in 2004 after essentially 3 bibles for noise rock..’strap it on’ ‘meantime’ and ‘betty’ they had re-emerged with two albums (+ 2006’s Monochrome) of very heavy pop songs (and very fucking good ones too)…it split the fans, and they in two fell swoops lost the hipster vote. I guess that wont be any ATP appearances then. Soundgarden imploded after they morphed into sadium metal-pop with 1995’s ‘pretty on the inside’…hipsters will moan at the mention of these titans later phase but fail to realise that they go back to the very origins of Sub Pop and never intended to be anything but ‘stadium’. Monster Magnet have gone heavy pop but in a different way..bored of the pyschedelic masterpieces such as ‘spine of god’, reluctant to churn out the same album again and again MM have become almost pure pop, just with scorching riffs and thundering drums instead of a 303 and a disco beat. There are other examples some more contemporary such as Torche and Cave In whose newer material is lighter and much more radio freindly but no less innovative and daring. I think it’s kind of cool to like pop, and it’s cool to like metal, but the two together are a dangerous alliance. However as in forthcoming album by Deftones proves, in can be an intoxicating combo providing the emotional climaxes and brutal impact of both disciplines. Long live Pop-Metal!