Album Review: Hello [EP] by Karmin

Viral video-stars-turned-major-label recording artists Karmin (real-life couple Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan) have a great back-story. They also have one of the most aggressively obnoxious debut albums in recent memory. The Boston duo burst to prominence with peppy-precious electro covers of Lil Wayne and Chris Brown; for Hello they teamed with heavy-hitting songwriter-producers like Stargate.

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You'd be forgiven if you assumed "Walking on the Moon," the opening cut on Karmin's major-label debut EP, Hello, was a cover of the Police's classic. After all, the duo of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan made their name in 2011 via smirking YouTube covers of hits by Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj, so jokey versions of new wave classics are no great stretch, but Hello is where Karmin attempt to shake off the specter of novelty and present themselves as an honest to goodness modern pop band, the kind that can work with such heavy-hitters as Tricky Stewart and Stargate. Those two producers have scored hits for Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Katy Perry, and that gives a good idea of how Karmin hope to market themselves: stylish dance-pop with an urban twist.

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