Remember your mom telling you not to each too much candy or you'll get sick and ruin your appetite? Well, that's how I feel about Papas Fritas. The band writes some sweet-ass, catchy pop music that is irresistable like candy.

However, listening to Papas Fritas for an extended period of time make me crave for Sonic Youth's Goodbye 20th CenturyCD. Taken in smaller doses, though, I get that warm feeling in my heart from these bright pop melodies with male/female vocals and harmonies.

There are a few songs that sound very '80s as if they could have been Michael Jackson tunes from his "Billy Jean" days as performed by Tom Petty. But more are pure ear candy, and I actually like one of those "Billy Jean"-like songs.

Buildings and Groundsis Papas Fritas' third album, and it shows the continuous progression that the band has taken since its first album. Once known as a "cute-pop" band, Papas Fritas has taken influence from the Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac and the Dave Clark Five and synergized them into a bit more mature, classic-pop sound.

More sophisticated chord changes, more solos and longer songs have made the tracks on Buildings and Groundsmore musically rich. But the band has been and will be known for one thing: pop music. It's yummy.

- John Lee