Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly, the electronic pop duo otherwise known as Chairlift, could have only been a one hit wonder. In 2008, the band’s song “Bruises” was exposed to the masses by the any-song-in-an-iTunes-commercial-gets-crazy-popular effect, putting the then three piece group in the spotlight just as their 2008 album Does You Inspire You was being released (Aaron Pfenning has since left the group and now makes music under the name Rewards).

Chairlift could have sat back and coasted, making another “Bruises” or “Does You Inspire You,” again and again and again, eventually fading from all of our minds. Instead, the band worked hard, made a comeback and refined their sound and created their sophomore LP, Something.

The album starts strong with the second single, “Sidewalk Safari,” a song with easily some of the best lyrics on the album. The song has a fairly simple premise (essentially “I want to kill you”), but Polachek’s lyrics have a sort of tongue-in-cheek flavor that makes it a very entertaining track to listen to. The next two songs, “Wrong Opinion” and “I Belong In Your Arms”, are fantastic as well, the latter of which contains a triumphant chorus that makes your chest swell with pride even if you’ve done nothing to deserve it.

“Take It Out On Me” slows things down a bit, settling into a groove while letting Polachek’s haunting and enchanting vocal styling take center stage. “Ghost Tonight,” the following track, feels a bit underdeveloped, though never boring. Next is the first proper slow jam on the album, “Cool as a Fire”, followed by what is possibly the best track on the album: the bizarrely titled “Amonaemonesia.” Released as a single long before Something, the song gained a considerable amount of attention (no, not from Apple) and has a fantastic music video to boot. The track features a great bass line, excellent vocal work, and some enchanting lyrical imagery in the bridge (I’m pretty sure “there’s a dog in the yard with a manner that’s rough” is intentional), before the song launches into one more huge chorus.

Unfortunately, after the enjoyable but perhaps ultimately forgettable “Met Before” runs its course, the album starts to run out of steam with only three tracks to go. “Frigid Spring” seems highly out of place with its inclusion of an acoustic guitars and the exclusive use of a live drum kit. The track is not bad by any means, it just seems like the track got added because they wanted to have eleven songs.  The track “Turning” makes a nice penultimate song, though it does not do much for the overall package. The effects are nice on Polacheck’s vocals, and the dreamy atmosphere makes for a nice soothing three minutes

The album concludes with “Guilty As Charged,” a nice jam with a particularly hard-hitting chorus. The lyrics and vocal delivery sound very St. Vincent-esque, though that is not particularly a bad thing. The song ends with a half-minute outro of distorted drums, and just like that Something has become nothing.

At its core, Something is a simple pop record soaked in 80’s influences and plenty of synths and drum machines. And though Something does not do anything that reinvents the formula, it still triumphs over the band’s last record and provides for a great listening experience. Solid hooks, great vocal melodies, and plenty of unique instrumentals make Something easy to listen to and even easier to love.