If I were to extend a riff on a Six Degrees of Steve Albini just that wee bit too far, I’d say that Chomp are the Superchunk to Cloud Nothings’ Jawbreaker, if only to highlight differences in style and mood. You see, where Dylan Baldi’s Cloud Nothings’ latest release, the excellent Attack On Memory, plies an angry, post-hardcore emo sound, Chomp (featuring CN’s Jayson Gerycz and Joe Boyer, plus Total Babes’ Chris Brown) focus down on noisy bubblegum punk-pop, making their debut album Buddha Jabba Momma (I know, right?) a much happier and brighter affair. It’s a stark contrast that only serves to highlight the schizophrenic nature of our music listening habits: two bands sharing the same members, one finding itself buried in rage while the other indulges in out-and-out fun. Baldi has spoken of his desire to make “music albums” rather than “pop albums”, so while he heads down that path, Gerycz, Boyer and Brown are bringing us the pop. Who can blame them though; when you’re playing what could be viewed as “depressing” music most of the year, maybe there’s a need to make something a little lighter in tone.

Let’s be clear, though: while Buddha Jabba Momma is nowhere near as good as Attack On Memory it’s still a lot of fuzzy fun. ‘Standing to Fall’ leaps out of the blocks with catchy riffing, harmonies and wonky soloing that takes us back to ’90s power pop before ‘Done Waiting’ gives us a cheerier version of The Libertines’ early work, and ‘Hammer and Nails’ completes the opening trio by dropping any pretence of harmony by indulging in stop-start noise. Despite the noisy diversions, Chomp simply can’t keep away from crafting pure pop melodies. ‘Witch Hunt’ is bathed in sunshine, and ‘Baited’ is snotty-yet-charming, introducing keyboards to the band’s sound. ‘Throw Out Your Wish List’ seems a slightly odd choice of single until it hits the chorus, and then we get smacked in the face by the most glorious of key changes – yes, we’ve heard it before from Redd Kross, through Superchunk right up to newbies like Fanzine but it always hits the spot. It’s the Colonel’s secret blend, power pop style.

There are moments that let you down though. ‘Fresh Wounds’ sounds worryingly like Green Day before drifting into ill-advised synth pop territory and the appallingly-titled ‘Mind Rape’ is as brain-dead as that title suggests it might be. ‘Mission: Demolition’ is a curious blend of surf-pop and grunge and is an experiment that shouldn’t be repeated, but aside from an attention-wavering last ten minutes or so the record is fairly solid, if a touch safe at times.

Looking beyond Buddha Jabba Momma it’s hard to see much of a future for Chomp other than as an occasional fun side-project for Gerycz and Boyer away from Cloud Nothings… but perhaps that word “fun” is the key. Take the album on face value, enjoy it, don’t over-analyse and we’ll say no more about it, deal?