Purling Hiss – Public Service Announcement

What’s up dudes. We’ve got the new full length player from PURLING HISS today, and it’s quite a brain-burner. Mike Polizze, who is from Philadelphia, is the main man behind the music, but this isn’t the only place you can find his work. You’ve probably also heard of Bird of Maya if you’re already familiar with Purling Hiss, but it seems as if he’s been concentrating on Purling Hiss a bit more lately. This is the second full-length to come from the band this year, only this time it’s a bit different from previous efforts.

Before this album, most Purling Hiss songs were long and drawn out heavy psych-jams that left you wondering what the hell just took place. This time around they went with more traditional song formats, keeping tracks no longer than the five minute mark. But don’t worry, they certainly didn’t get rid of the loud psych-y stuff. It’s a good thing too. Hopefully Polizze keeps it up at this moonlighting job, because these new Purling Hiss songs totally rock.

Things start off on a familiar note with this album. There’s no point where you’ll be wondering who this stuff came from. The first track “Run From the City” starts off right away with a screeching guitar hook, and soon enough you’ll begin to notice the song building up more and more. The squeal of Polizze’s guitar is enough to make your heart sing as he keeps tearing it up with that same hook. It doesn’t get much radder than that – a mind-blowing riff played over and over again while the drums and everything else tries to match the intensity. If anything is apparent after listening to this song, it’s that this dude has some serious talent. Next is the instrumental track “Porch Dude/ Slight Return”, and it’s a great way to follow up. This one has a funky urban feel to it. The guitars and whatnot continue to swirl over your head helping to progress the song, and this one should keep you grooving without a doubt. Then comes “Don’t Even Try It”, which is what music in a daze should sound like. It’s especially dreamy and hazy, which brings me to say that if warmth had a sound, this would be it. The shape shifting acoustic guitar goes great with the “woo-ooh-ooh”, making for a great sing along if you know the lyrics.

Skipping ahead to track five, “Ojos Locos” – which translates to “crazy eyes” in English. The first 30 seconds or so don’t really hint at what’s to come, wait til about 45 seconds in and the fun begins. Suddenly there’s a happy ska flair that comes along with that bouncy guitar riff, which makes the song upbeat but kind of muffled at the same time. It’s a strange balance, but once again this band dazzles as they manage to make it work out so nicely. Either way the happy vibes are flowing! Moving ahead to “Beautiful Earth Creature”, this song is bound to strike a soft spot. You can’t exactly understand everything Polizze is singing, but there’s some parts that are easier to decipher than others. The highlight of this song though comes in the lead guitar work, just listen below and you’ll know what I mean. Following that comes “Malice in Wonderland”, which definitely qualifies as the most obscure and out-of-line track on the album. I’m not entirely sure what’s making all those heavy sounds, but it certainly helps create some intense, vivid visualizations. The final two tracks “Doghouse” and “1976” shouldn’t be ignored, I’m just running out of time. Check out what I’ve left for ya below and leave some comments. I want more comments people can’t you tell!!? Let’s get the Styrofoam Drone community up and running!!

Run From the City –

Ojos Locos – https://styrofoamdrone.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/05-ojos-locos.mp3E

Beautiful Earth Creature –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Lo-Fi, Punk
Public Service Announcement: Tracklist:
1.) Run From the City
2.) Porch Dude/ Slight Return
3.) Don’t Even Try It
4.) Bedroom
5.) Ojos Locos
6.) Gypsy
7.) Zor
8.) Goodbye Blue
9.) Beautiful Earth Creature
10.) Malice in Wonderland
11.) Doghouse
12.) 1976