The Purrs CD review

I was pleasantly greeted by my mailbox today, as it brought me the gift of The Purrs new self-titled CD on Sarathan Records. The disc is actually seven tunes from their Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of disc, along with a few additional songs off of their No Particular Bar, No Particular Town ep. So, I suppose I'm wrong to call it a "new" self-titled CD. But, it's a new release, so... good enough.

The disc leads with "She's Gone," a tune that rides a 60s pop guitar groove into a relatively snide vocal delivery, and the results pull me in every time. "Connect the dots" is a woozy dirge that recalls Velvet Underground. Track six, "Because I Want To," sounds like what I think The La's might sound like at the end of a long drunken weekend hanging out with the Hoodoo Gurus.

I tend to prefer The Purrs in their poppier moments, and they lose me a little when they start to shoegaze or get all psychedelic on me. But, they strike a nice balance between the two sides. The whole disc sounds cohesive, even though we know it's culled from two previous releases. So, if you like your melody with a heavy dose of... a heavy dose of... well, maybe just a heavy dose, then this disc is for you.

Or, you can see them live this Friday (9/29) at the High Dive with The Ettes and The Village Green, who also have a new release out (on spinArt Records), which I have not yet heard. Based on samples on their myspage page, it's less bombastic than when I last saw them live. But, sounds interesting.