18. The Kid - Transient Blood



The Kid have such an interesting, underground eighties sound. At first I was kinda turned off by the wonkiness but then I heard their cover of Mayhem Troopers and was completely sold. The album’s full of off-kilter pop music that grows more and more interesting as you listen to it. Plus, they’ve got the year’s best lyric in Shadow Of A Horse (and I may be totally mishearing this, but I hope I’m not). The chorus literally consists of: “I’ve got cum in my hair, I wish it was yours.” Now come on, it doesn’t get any better than that.

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17. Neo - One



In a year without a brand new BWO album, we got Neo instead. If possible, his music is even more cotton candy camp than his influences’. In fact, on the first listen I thought it was all too sugary for me, but then massive tracks like Flower Power Supergirl and Shadow Dancer lodged themselves in my brain and refused to let go. In a year that didn’t see that many good Swedish pure-pop releases, Neo was a breath of fresh air. He literally seemed to come out of nowhere, like a curly-haired pop creature filled with hooks upon hooks.

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