It took me a long time to become a poptimist. For much of my formative years as a music fan, pop was a four-letter word. I felt deeply that music had to MEAN something, and that the music should make an effort to stretch beyond the typical four chord, four four banality dominating the airwaves.

But as I’ve grown up, I’ve realized that there’s a reason those simpler formats are as popular as they are—and not because they’re easy to write. It takes a rare skill to take these archetypal building blocks and create something electrifying.

That realization came over several years, but it probably would have come a lot faster of someone would have showed me this as a teenager.
The record opens with the bouncing title track and never lets up. Every second of this record is pure powerpop bliss, synth lines and vocal lines hosting a nonstop dance party. Every song is filled to the brim with hooks, delivered in Belinda Carlisle’s effortlessly smooth voice. Tracks like “Vacation” and “I Think It’s Me” are as satisfying as pop music gets. “Beatnik Beach” dives full on into surf rock without a mite of reservation.

Yet for all its breezy pop sensibility, there’s an edge here that betrayed new wave’s punk roots. If the guitars were boosted in the mix and the synths were removed, you could have Johnny Ramone sing  these songs and no one would bat an eye (well, besides the very obviously femme-perspective lyrics). Tracks like “He’s So Strange” have a darkness that isn’t enough to shatter it’s boppiness. Beyond that, there’s an emotional depth that uses the poppiness of the songs like a Trojan Horse. Even the title track is a song about emotional disassociation.

Pressure was high on the Go-Gos going into this record. Their debut became the first (and remains the only) record completely written and performed by women to reach number one. But if there was any anxiety about following up that success, it doesn’t show up on the tape. This is as sweet and simple as pop music gets, using the limited vocabulary of the medium to create something positively irresistible.