It’s not easy being an “existentially bored twenty something”, especially if you live in Oklahoma city, but while it may be difficult for the likes of The Purple Church, the net result is of great benefit to music fans as it seems that boredom, in this case, has led to an astounding burst of creativity. The Purple Church, in their humorously worded bio, ponder as to their originality and while there are echoes here of established bands, TPC have added enough of their own world-weary personalities into the mix to come up with something rather new. Offering up a sound that could, loosely, be described as Sonic Youth and the Smiths jamming on The Cure and Cooper Temple Clause (remember them? Ace weren’t they?) covers, theirs is a disconcerting, jangling sound that hints at equal fascination with shoe-gaze rock and David Lynch with the feedback-strewn soundscapes providing the perfect soundtrack for strobe-lit, red-draped rooms filled with backwards-talking midgets…and in case you’re wondering that’s one hell of a recommendation.
The first thing you’ll notice when you check out this all-too-brief release is the amazing packaging. Purple Church’s work harks back to the old days of tape trading and hand-made art and the CD comes packaged in a beautiful, hand-printed gatefold sleeve complete with a fold out booklet and sticker as well as a CD that has itself been printed in a way that has turned it into a miniature work of art. The music inside is no less enthralling. A heady mixture of the bands listed above with hints of metal thrown in (check out the dramatic half-time riff that rounds out ‘Snake eater’ and you’ll see what I mean) the music is at once tightly focused and yet wildly avant-garde. Psychedelic effects whirl through the mix while the guitars sound like angry hornets buzzing around a disturbed nest when they are let off the leash. Follow up song ‘trapped under ice’ (no, not a Metallica cover!) is a seemingly lethargic, jangly track that suddenly leaps ferociously for the throat without a word of warning while the guitars rage away in the back ground. The effect is rather like the terrifying lurch Sonic Youth fans would find themselves faced with when the band flipped from gentle indie to the crushing death-knell of ‘death valley ‘69’ and as with that band you should take nothing for granted when listening to Purple church.
The third and final track listed on the single (although the disc itself has four tracks), ‘revisionist history’ is a gently rippling ride on the dark side with a repetitive riff overlaid with gentle effects and a hypnotic drum beat. Very different from the spleen venting violence of the first two tracks it’s a subtle and wonderful track on a mesmerising single that leaves you in no doubt of the band’s abilities to craft glorious dreamscapes with their music. A fourth, untitled, track then fades in demonstrating the heavier side of the band bringing to mind the masterful Fugazi jamming on Pink Floyd if you can imagine such a thing. As an instrumental post-script to the single proper it’s a generous bonus and it seems a fitting ending to the disc as well, with the subtle hint of menace inherent in the band’s output ever-present but never quite exploding into the vivid life that one might expect.
Purple Church are a truly wonderful band. Their attention to detail is masterful and everything from the care lavished on the packaging to the glorious, life affirming psychedelia of their recorded output makes this something that fans of unusual, original, innovative music should track down in a hurry, especially as there are only one hundred copies available (you can also download it for free – check out their facebook page here – but why would you want to when the packagin is so amazing?). A beautiful piece of art – this is spectacular.
