One of NME’s 100 Bands To Watch for 2017 from Oslo, Pom Poko in session on August 13th for Riley and Coe at BBC 6 Music and recorded at Maida Vale studios.
Pom Poko was formed in 2017 and quickly gained a reputation for their live shows, earning them a spot on NME’s “100 Bands to Watch” list that year. In 2019, they signed to Bella Union. They released their debut album, Birthday, to positive reviews that same year. In 2021, they released their second album, Cheater, to critical acclaim.
The band is named after Pom Poko, a Japanese animated film released by Studio Ghibli in 1994.
Here’s an excerpt from their Bandcamp page regarding the release of their latest album.
Pom Poko are growing up. On Champion, a monumental slice of reflective and life-affirming post-punk, vocalist/lyricist Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, bassist Jonas Krøvel, guitarist Martin Miguel Almagro Tonne, and drummer Ola Djupvik are the closest they’ve ever been, both personally and in terms of their hermetically tight four-piece rock instrumentation. When most bands call each other “family”, it’s a bit of a cliché—but with Pom Poko, after years of touring the four corners of the world and instituting a stringently democratic songwriting process, they really have evolved into one highly-synchronized unit, whose mission is to stay as true to their artistic values as possible while continuing to explore the farthest reaches of their slightly chaotic, always exhilarating sound.
“It feels like we’re maturing and growing up together,” explains Ragnhild. “By the time this album comes out, we’ll have been a band for eight years. It’s like we’re evolving. When you’re not grinding with the band all the time, you gain an appreciation for what you’ve built. It’s like a very weird and really lovely little gang to hang out in. I almost feel like we’re superheroes—it’s like being a part of Powerpuff Girls.”
Champion is Pom Poko’s third LP, after their blistering debut Birthday in 2019, and 2021’s critically acclaimed Cheater. Both albums served to cement the band’s sound: Ragnhild’s high-pitched yet crystal clear voice punctuating the rest of the band’s ferocious onslaught of noise, which fluctuates from post-punk to math-rock and everything in between.
A big tour is currently taking place, going well into October and primarily around the UK – so if you happen to be in the neighborhood . . .
In the meantime – press Play and enjoy lunch.
