Trudie Dawn Smith “No Pop”

07 Feb 2014 — Henry Schiller

If Dent May had come out of South London and not Mississippi, he might sound something like Trudie Dawn Smith. On "No Pop", Smith drums every ounce of warmth and joy that she can into slick, "rock group" instrumentals - like May, she's working with fairly standard equipment, but never lets anything sound so canned or obvious as to induce a hipster cringe. Even the stray, deliberate cough strikes more as an instance of pristine pop excitement than some lame attempt at studio authenticity. "No Pop" is a crisply produced post-punk (think Police, not Joy Division) meditation on a cycling, but never not unsurprising bassline. "No echo of you will be left here" repeats Smith into the increasingly scuzzed out chamber of drum, bass, and cauterwauling electronics she's built around herself. Smith and drummer/producer Tom Skinner deliver a track that is minimally obscure and pop-sharp. Already drawing comparisons to The Slits, "No Pop" does show a similar rhythmic focus and groove-influenced melodic drive to the famous British punk band. Indeed, this may be the "Typical Girls" of the post-dub era.