In light of Slow Pulp playing what surely has to be the biggest headlining show in their new hometown of Chicago (they’re originally from Madison, Wisconsin), I thought it’d be a lovely concert aperitif to review their newest album, Yard, released on September 29, almost three years after their debut, Moveys, was released to widespread critical acclaim. It’s not often a band makes as big of a splash as Slow Pulp did with Moveys, especially with it being their first full-length record, but Slow Pulp is an indie band cut from a different songwriting cloth. Their sound is familiar yet new, forseeable yet exciting, and overall comforting like freshly cleaned bed sheets on a cool autumn day. On Yard, the core of their sparse, twangy indie rock sound is not only preserved but is graciously expanded upon as this most recent collection of ten tracks is as mature, focused, and fun as the band has ever been since forming in 2015.
Within the first ten seconds of “Gone 2”, you can quickly tell that this record is going to be a more focused outing for the band. As much as I love Moveys, some songs on that record sounded a little directionless and not as confident as I thought they could have been. When you add in the instrumental and the closing song on top of all that, you get an eight-song album that, although pretty darn incredible, clearly shows some room for growth in several areas. Songs like “Idaho”, “At It Again”, "Falling Apart", and especially “Montana” were worth the price of admission alone but I suppose I just wanted more of that sound and consistency on the record as a whole.
Following “Gone 2”, we get a run of three of the four singles released for the album, and oh, how they do rock. “Doubt” brings the easy-going, summer-loving fun that I wanted more of on Moveys while “Cramps” cranks up the volume, distortion, and angst far more than I was expecting from the same band who wrote “Montana”. "Slugs", although not my favorite song off the record, might be their crowning musical achievement and will be among their most popular songs in no time, at least on streaming services. It’s an absolute “summer hit” with its driving rhythm, incredibly catchy chorus, lyrics that paint the comforting picture of a nostalgic summer fling, and just the right amount of addictive twang in the guitar to bring you back over and over again with no shame.
What I started to notice with the next two songs, “Yard” and “Carina Phone 1000”, especially compared to a song like “Cramps”, is that there is such a grand amount of variance on this record both sonically and musically that I never really registered with their last. From “Gone 2” to “Cramps” to “Yard” to “Broadview”, there are so many different types of songs on this record that see Slow Pulp branching out and bringing in other sounds from genres like grunge, folk, country, pop, and do I dare say even pop punk, while still being able to sound just like you’d expect Slow Pulp to sound like.
Quite possibly the breakout hit of the album and certainly the best non-single there is, “MUD” recalls back to the dark, grungy musical underbelly that started the record with “Gone 2” but adds more pop sensibilities to the melodies and lyrics that make repeated listens not only absurdly fun but also stupidly easy.
Every time I come off listening to “MUD”, I’m reminded of the lyrical repetition that closes out that song and how the lyric greatly applies every time I reach the end of this album: “I don’t want this end.” With that being said, I always love getting to "Broadview", my absolute favorite track on the whole record as it’s such a shining example of how to cross genre lines and write the bipartisan anthem of the year. I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for the sad, morose alt-country rocker with a beat, and any song that attempts that and succeeds plus gives me harmonica is pretty much guaranteed to be my favorite song on whatever record it’s on. “Broadview” is just a cozy weighted blanket of love and happiness in my eyes and not only fully satisfies me musically but also contains my favorite lyric on the whole record with lead singer Emily Massey lamenting on the regret we all feel when we keep ourselves locked away and out of reach from life thinking that we just aren’t worthy enough when we most certainly are. Every time she belts out “I’m just gonna give it a try and hope that it’s enough”, it sends shivers down my spine and I’m hitting crushing the replay button.
If I had one criticism to pinpoint on the album besides how it’s always over way too quickly, it would be with the closing song, “Fishes”. It’s by far and away my least favorite song on the album and it’s never fun when an album ends on a somewhat low note. I do think that this may just be a me problem seeing as the lyrics are actually some of the best on the record and perfectly encapsulate the album by ending on a positive note about how we all have room to grow and get better and that it’s useless playing the role of your own worst enemy when you really could be playing the role of your own best friend. However, musically, the song just doesn’t do a whole lot for me and leaves me with a sense of emptiness akin to knowing you’ll never get the closure you want out of a failed relationship but you just have to keep moving on to better days. Either way, it’s not a bad song by any means but something about it seems a bit half-baked with the juxtaposition of the uplifting poeticism found in the lyrics coupled with the upfront acoustic melancholia of the guitars.
All in all, Slow Pulp managed to write one of the best indie rock records of the year, which is really saying something when so many of their contemporaries like Wednesday, Ratboys, and Indigo De Souza have all written and released not only the best albums of their careers but also of the year too. Yard is an absolute triumph, a must-listen, a strong contender for album of the year, and an album that I imagine I’ll be listening to for decades to come. I also wanna see what I can do about possibly getting that album artwork framed… But that’s for another day.
Slow Pulp will be playing at Thalia Hall on Saturday, November 11th. Tickets are sold out but they will have a limited number available at the door! You can check out Slow Pup's Yard on your favorite streaming platform or purchase a physical/digital copy here. They also have a very cool yellow cassette available over at Citrus City Records.