Dave Richards Review—Erie Times News--Showcase

Pssst! Don't tell the Telefonics' John Johnston that his band just issued a great pop record. You'll freak him out. He'd rather croak than issue a CD that's too commercial or plastic as a credit card. He worried the Telefonics might have gone too far with "Hip Flip Colours," their first release in three years.

"I was scared," Johnston conceded. "I thought, 'Are we making this completely mainstream record?' Which is my worst nightmare."

Not to worry. Hilary Duff or Simple Plan fans would likely recoil at the Telefonics' sweet-and-sour tunes. While they love good hooks and gooey melodies -- anchored by Gina Rullo's kitten-purr vocals -- they also like distorted guitars, amp-mutated vocals, feedback, and sweetly subversive lyrics.

In the grand tradition of forebears Velvet Underground and Jesus & Mary Chain, they wrestle with noise and melody, with the dark side and light -- in surprisingly catchy, occasionally danceable ways.

"It's a pop record, but it does follow our influences, as far as Sonic Youth, '80s New Wave, and lo-fi music that was out -- Beat Happening, Pavement, and underground stuff," Johnston said. "I love the pop hooks. But I also like a song with complete chaos. So we're trying to blend those elements, and I think, on this particular record, it happened. We stepped back a little on the noise. Some of the songs that got cut out were completely experimental pieces."

All sorts of influences poke through -- Pixies, Sonic Youth, J&M Chain, Primitives, PJ Harvey, B-52s -- yet never overtly. Telefonics craft their own sneakily insouciant brand of noise-pop that's equally beguiling and bedeviled, as on the bouncy opener "Monster" and velvety "Feel Alright."

Telefonics play a CD-release party for "Hip Flip Colours" on Saturday at Forward Hall with Black Rose Diary and two other bands. They also plan some giveaways, guest vocalists, and a belly-dancing interlude, too, with Jessica Stadtmueller.

"Just a fun time," Rullo said.

Like the CD, which includes some B-52-ish fun ("Explosion"), techno ("Hey, Hey, Hey'), an extended, trippy Sonic Youth-ish/Lennon-esque excursion ("Heart Attack"), a cool blast of industrial punk ("Throat Ailment"), a perfect noise-pop confection ("Pretty Girls"), and a sweet love song which references "Star Wars" and is titled ... well, "Star Wars." Admission is $3 to Saturday's show.