Cherrybomb

At some point, Hollywood’s relentless intellectual property recycling program will cough up a quickie remake of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and when it does, expect "Speed of Light,” the title track from Cherrybomb’s full-length debut, to sub in for the Go-Go’s’ "Speeding” on the soundtrack. Jenny Galt and Vicky Sjohall, the gum-snapping, MAC-spackled Vancouver duo play super-slick new-new wave that comes on as hard, crunchy and tooth-rotteningly sweet as a party-pack of Gobstoppers — like Veruca Salt gene-spliced with the Ronettes. Produced with the help of Jay Evjen and ex-Odd Craig Northey, Speed of Light’s early moments glisten with pre-fab catchiness; each layer of glimmering synth and gnarly guitar added with maximal radio saturation in mind. Their quick and punchy pop/rock nuggets are a blast, but the album falters once Galt and Sjohall ditch the rock and break out the soppy ballads — "Sold Out” approximates the Dixie Chicks gone power pop, while the burnished choruses and buffed-up harmonies of "What I Am” sound like they’ve been snitched from some cheesy multi-platinum Corrs single. They’ve got plenty of potential, but unless they can kick their addiction to mediocre sentimentality, Cherrybomb’s talents will be wasted on gooey MOR schmaltz.