The Purrs – Tearing Down Paisley Garden
June 16th, 2010
I’ve not been shy about heaping praise upon the Purrs, one of Seattle’s best and longest-running psych-pop bands. Their last full-length, Amused, Confused & More Bad News, still gets regular listens from me and my stereo given its all-around atmospheric attractiveness. I must say, though, it’s a tough thing to be an active fan of a band that seems to never catch the ear of the greater public. It’s not like there hasn’t been plenty of digital ink spilled recognizing their feats, as evidenced by a simple gander of the ‘Press’ page on their website. I realize many music fans prefer this pseudo-anonymity for their favorite gems, preserving against the wrath of anything remotely mainstream. But “mainstream” is out of my sphere of thought here; I just want them to headline the Showbox or something. As I’ve said before, they play the part of the underdog well, but I just wonder when the tipping point for a 10-year old talented band without a sizable cleave into the collective consciousness might take place.
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I have a feeling the Purrs may be wondering the same thing. While they’ve always had the inclination to wallow in the doldrums, and mostly continue that trend on Tearing Down Paisley Garden, the band sounds almost as if the lack of big-time success is wearing them down. To wit, on the EP’s centerpiece “Pie In The Sky”, bassist/vocalist Jima laments, “I can’t seem to reach the pie in the sky”. Honestly, it’s a fine tune, but there is a palpable despondency that genuinely permeates the song, and really the entire record. The guitars don’t sound quite as nasty, the mood quite as carefree, or the production quite as happily hazy. Perhaps this was the intent, but that blithe irritability from earlier efforts is missing (“Just A Little More” asks “who are you to bring me down?”—ha). For the record, “It Could Be So Wonderful” is an excellent barn-burning bubbler and could’ve ably fit right in on Amused.
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In the end, though, this mini-album doesn’t strike me as the end-all-be-all of the what the Purrs can produce. If a new full-length is on the way (and it is), I’m willing to pass off Tearing Down Paisley Garden as a jaded outcrop of busted dreams and sit tight for the next one. Perhaps if you check out a show or buy one of their records, it might cheer the guys up.
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The album release show will be June 24th at the Crocodile with Brent Amaker and the Rodeo. Here’s an mp3 for a cover of a song by Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry:
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