Elemeno P - Elemeno P

Rating: * * * *

Elemeno P may have had a string of hits, but the band has always come across as a novelty act; a bunch of musicians clowning around, with little substance behind them.

Their third album - self-titled and self-produced - shakes that feeling once and for all. It is a short and sweet collection of rollicking pop-rock that defies you not to smile as you tap your foot to the beat.

Peppered with hand-claps and foot-stomping, the band deliver the local feel-good album of the year, even when delving into slower, slightly sadder, waters.

The gentle, guitar-driven rhythm of

Better Days

is a slow-building anthem of hope, while

Anna Don't Let Go

, continues down the melancholic, melodic path, revealing a previously unseen depth to their music. Of course, there are still plenty of the band's signature sing-along tunes, including the first single

Baby Come On

and the drunken sea shanty-like

Loaded Gun

.

Louder Louder brings a distinct gypsy-folk flavour to the mix and is an undoubted highlight of the CD, along with the anthemic opener

Beverly Laurel

, with its slowly crescendoing beat.

Recorded in a small studio in Mt Eden, it is the band's first recording under their sole direction and easily their best to date.

Joanna Hunkin