Swedish powerpopsters The Genuine Fakes follow up their debut release, 'The Striped Album', with all the bits they had left over from those sessions - kind've like Dr. Frankenstein throwing together a Mini-Me from the slops bucket. If you have the Japanese or the American version of 'The Striped Album' then some, but not all of the tracks may already be familiar. But for newbies of The Genuine Fakes this EP, or mini-album, is a great introduction to the band and, at nearly 30 minutes in duration, is only a song short of some full-length albums.

I think that I can see why The Genuine Fakes have decided to put these 'orphans' together in this format. The EP starts really strongly. 'Time Is Slight' very much sounds like a top Gigolo Aunts tune, co-written with The Posies. From the harmonies right down to the crunchy and fuzzy guitar parts fans of powerpop will immediately feel at home here.

Then there's the lyrical happy fatalism of 'I Wanna Be A Stranger' - another great song with a great guitar intro, which twists a funky 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' keyboard riff into an unrecognisable shape and reappropriates it.

'Blind Commitment' is the one truly unreleased song on the EP and it's a good one but it's also here that strength of the EP weakens slightly and gives some credence to the 'b-sides' feeling of the collection. 'History Repeats' has more or less the same sentiments as The Rembrandts' 'I'll Be There For You' - a song that may be 17 years old but the ubiquitous nature of 'Friends' means that the memory is always going to be fresh in our minds and comparisons not far behind.

A slower song, 'Earnest Endeavor', showcases Joey Fake's vocals and the band's sound, which, despite the distorted guitars, is unerringly safe and pretty- reminding me of the ultimate clean cut pop star Clark Datchler.

I know that some people out there will think that The Posies are a safe and controlled band (except for those who have ever seen them live). But The Genuine Fakes' cover of The Posies' 'Somehow Everything' takes a bigger bite out of the fluffy cotton candy that is powerpop. It's true that they don't have the vitriol of a Ken Stringfellow in the band and, of course, we're not looking for a carbon copy cover either but I think that this song places the band as less Posies and more Gigolo Aunts. Good company methinks.

Get your copy of 'Liner Notes' now by clicking on the link to the band's website, right below this review.

http://thegenuinefakes.com