Indiepop Will Never Die (But You Will): Part 65487. And if it's not San Francisco right now, it's somewhere in Sweden. Formerly operating under the less appropriate name of the Ground Pounders, Friendly Boyfriend debut with a four track 7" that implies the duo have spent a good deal of time studying the minutiae of the undying International Pop Underground. Pick Up may have emerged from Gothenburg in 2021, but its heart and soul seems divined from the shared spiritual ether of K Record, Flying Nun, Slumberland and C86. They effortlessly flip between Beat Happening, The Clean and The Vaselines, with a vim and freshness that lends them an identity all their own, helped no end by endearingly wonky (non-) production and tape static hiss that suggests the wheels might come off at any point. Which reminds me, must get those Olympia - Dunedin - Glasgow t shirts made up (S and XL only).
