Some records just show up at the right time. Almost precisely four years after her angsty alterna-popper Anxiety, Pip Brown’s third LP dropped at the top of June, and it’s pure, frothy, indie-kid summer jam central. Wild Things does its darndest to plug the electro-dance ice-pop void left by La Roux’s sophomore let-down and the absence of new Robyn, Annie and Dragonette albums (plus the nine months since the last Chvrches record). The churning, crystalline opener, in particular, could stand with the finest work by any of the aforementioned, handily putting across the could-be vapidly self-referential refrain “This is what a love song sounds like” (shades of Selena Gomez) through sheer infectious, blood-pumping fervor.
The remainder hits nearly as hard, often following a similarly brash, lovestruck template (“Chills”) but with just enough switch-ups in production, from Lykke Li-like piano pounders “The River” and “Golden Girls” to the soulful, slow-burning title cut, jittery dance-punk wriggler “Let It Roll” and the minimal, electroclashy crunch of “Dangerous.” Roll ’em down, crank it up!
—K. Ross Hoffman
