Pure Ecstasy – Voices 7″

Just the other day I got a brand new 7″ record in the mail from Acéphale Records, which I believe it based out of somewhere in New York. The 7″ features just under 8 minutes of brand new material from the hazed out beach rockers in Pure Ecstasy. Pure Ecstasy hail from Austin, Texas, and their music always finds a way to crawl under your skin. Going by their last 7″ we covered, they didn’t change too much for this 7″, but that’s totally okay with me. As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t gotten enough material from this band yet, which is why it’s 100% okay that they keep putting out these quick little 7″ gems. On their Myspace it says “LP coming soon”, so hopefully they won’t keep us waiting too long for that. Until then, maybe we can continue to see new singles released here and there.

This new 7″ features two brand new songs – one on the A-side and one on the B-side. The A-side is a track called “Voices”, and Nate Grace is there right away to greet us with “I know, I know, I know.” At times in these Pure Ecstasy songs, instead of an intense guitar solo, it seems like the guitar is being used to create a sort of texture before anything else. A bit past the 1 minute mark of this song and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Instead of coming off as a solo, it comes off more as a hazy wall of sound that gives the song a bit more depth. Flipping over to the B-side now, this track is called “Alexandria”. Right away you’re face to face with a ground shaking bass line, and it continues on this way for the entire song. It’s songs like these that are responsible for being stuck in your head for days at a time. Graces guitar is once again swirling away in the mix, creating textures and evoking hot summer days. Grace howls away towards the middle, giving this track that sense of longing that can be heard in most of these Pure Ecstasy songs.

While the music on this single is one thing, the vinyl itself is a completely different story. Acéphale puts the utmost care into their vinyl, and it shows with this release. The single is limited to 500 copies with no repress; the first 150 come pressed on a swirled maroon/beige vinyl with the remainder being maroon/black; and to top it all off they give the record sleeve a matté finish, which certainly gives it professional look and feel. Just take a look at this picture.
Be sure to listen to “Alexandria” below, and you can listen to the A-side “Voices” over on the Pure Ecstasy Myspace. Enjoy!