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ALBUM REVIEW: Pure Evil – Puppy

Hype can haunt an artist. It can drag them down under as they try to live up to impossible standards. We’ve seen bands rise and fall within months as albums crash and burn seconds after release. But every now and then, a band will pull it out the bag with a delicious debut outing. When PUPPY gave the world The Goat at the start of 2019, they lived up to the lofty ambitions their hype had burdened them with. As a global pandemic shut off their victory lap of live shows, they had time to contend with that second album curse. So, how does Pure Evil measure up to the hype they’re still riding?

No one would have blamed PUPPY for playing it safe. But rather than rest on their laurels, Pure Evil puts The Goat’s chugging post-grunge pummelling out to pasture in favour of a carousel of sounds. Eating up every influence under the sun as if Kirby’s become a musical polymath, Pure Evil upcycles the 90s, spinning alt-metal, grunge, and shoegaze plates to stunning effect.

The chugging distortion of opener Shining Star should be taken as a warning for those of you hoping for The Goat part two, but it should also be heeded that you won’t hear anything like it again either. The Kiss bleeds into softening shoegaze tones and honey-soaked melodies that wouldn’t go amiss on Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, whilst My Offer’s rolling hill of riffs and frenetic rhythm section has you air drumming your way into madness. 

Pure Evil, in its simplest form, is a formulaic album. Each track has a way of bursting into life, has a chorus that worms its way into your eardrums, and finishes with you hungry for more. Dig a little deeper, listen a little closer, and you’ll realise that nothing is the same. Hear My Word’s groovy basslines and lo-fi noodling put a twist on TAME IMPALA’s psychedelics, whilst …And Watched It Glow lets drummer Billy Price show off his chops with a drumming masterclass, as they polish a dose of noise rock off with a shoegaze sheen.

What sets Pure Evil apart from its predecessor though is its ability to make you truly feel things through sound. Holy Water’s glorious melodies bounce off little riffs, revitalising you as if you’re being washed in holy water, whilst Shame’s glacial strumming and reverberating basslines let vocalist Jock Norton’s vulnerability welcome you in like a warm hug. 

Some bands let the hype machine swallow them whole. Some bands crack under the pressure of it all. But where others fall, PUPPY rise. Pure Evil is a triumph of a second album that should put them high up on a pedestal for all to see.

Rating: 9/10

Pure Evil - Puppy

Pure Evil is set for release on May 6th via Rude Records.

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