HONEYRIDERS’ NEW ‘POW! CRASH!’

The new album from Pittsburgh band Honeyriders begins with a breezy Britpop song that has frontman Mark Fern singing, “America/All aboard for the dumbing down of America ….”

It’s legit as Britpop as the singer-songwriter grew up in Sheffield, England, before moving here with his parents in the ’80s and playing in the bands Deadly by Desire,Like Whoa and Jack to My Friends.

Honeyriders are the rare Pittsburgh band that takes its cues from British bands like Squeeze, while occasionally adding a touch of bluesy psychedelia. “Pow! Crash!” is the follow-up to Honeyriders’ 2015 “Tautology.”

“This one definitely has a more raw style to it than the ‘Tautology,’” Mr. Fern says. “I also focused more on crafting a singable chorus — without being twee or forced about it — ’cause what’s a song you can’t hum on your way home?”

He’s also injected more of a political edge into the lyrics, singing on that opening track, “Amerika,” “Why is it the fashion to reject reason/How can disagreeing be labeled treason?”

“Of the 10 tunes,” he says, “there’s one pop song about girls and boys, one crunchy song about not liking work, one acerbic view of religion, and the rest about America’s place in the world, war, conspiracy theorists and politics: the word politics of course being derived from ‘poly’ meaning ‘many’ and ‘tics’ meaning ‘blood sucking parasite.’”

Hidden at the end of the CD are some fun covers: Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes,” The Zombies’ “Time of the Season,” The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” and The Monkees’ “Pleasant Valley Sunday.”

“For as long as I can remember I’ve recorded versions of other people’s tunes but usually pretty rough. These four are recorded with the same intent as my original stuff. They’re typically older tunes that have some special meaning or memory trigger or, in a few cases, to get an earworm out of my head.”

Honeyriders will release the record, playing as part of the Deutschtown Music Festival at 8 p.m. Saturday at Penn Brewery, Troy Hill. For more details, www.thehoneyriders.com.