It’s unfortunate that Ariel Pink’s 2014 will not be remembered as the year of pom pom, but rather as the year that Pink should have kept his mouth shut. I say this because pom pom really is an exceptional record — it’s difficult to make something as pointedly perverse as this sound both turbulent and sweet at the same time. pom pom is dripping in tongue-in-cheek references to the vapidity of L.A. culture, all the while grounding itself in Pink’s trademarked distressing version of Wonderland. All seventeen tracks boast the same childish buoyancy as Pink’s earlier projects, but there is something sinister about the album’s overall sentiment magnified by his uncompromising, explicit lyrics, that makes pom pom stand out and above. –Gabriela [LISTEN]