I’m always digging around for new music in much the same way some of us dig around for love — deep down we always crave fireworks, butterflies, and love at first sight. My instinct for music is almost instant, in that within a few short seconds of listening to a song I can pretty much tell if I love it or hate it. Admittedly, some of these songs turn into one-night stands, but some of them go on to become life-long romances that I return to time and time again. And yesterday I found one of these life-long loves. The group is PURE X (formerly known as Pure Ecstasy) and their new album Pleasure (released on Acéphale Records) is my latest infatuation — and I’m not the only one either. Zach Kelly of Pitchfork recently reviewed Pleasure and gave it a major thumbs up:
Instead of harnessing the rebel cool of that era, Pure X get lost in the simplicity and slow-burn daydreaminess, stoking these characteristics with uniquely visceral reverb and a zonked tunefulness that impart a vaporous sensuality. But the most defining and pleasurable thing about Pleasure is the guitars– impressive for a record that doesn’t care about show-off guitar shit at all. Grace lets his pedals do most of the talking, gracefully sussing out emotional detail with subtle melody while still creating memorable moments, like the cheap firework burnout at the end of “Half Here”.
I’ve attached a streaming window below for you to check it out, with my highlights being “Dry Ice”, “Twisted Mirror”, and “Surface”. To pick up your copy of Pleasure simply head over to iTunes. You can also follow PURE X on Facebook, Soundcloud, as well as their website PURE-X.info.
