Cassette Review // Pure material "Orange Whip Licorice"

 

https://purematerial.bandcamp.com/album/orange-whip-licorice

The music of Pure material is melodic and at times it can remind me of a band such as The Beatles.   But as diverse as a name as that might be, the sound does change throughout this cassette to where it starts as Weezer-like but can ultimately become that new wave nostalgic type of sound.  "Bleak Surrender", for example, starts with a surf like guitar and then when the keys come in it can remind me of Blue Oyster Cult.

Elements of this are both catchy and pop, with "Tokyo Snow" being a huge single potential.   By the time we reach the end of the first side we've drifted into this dreamy / shoegaze type of sound on "Ambrosia".   This just shows how everything sort of unravels from the start to the finish of the first side, with there being that constant melody and a sort of psych/trippy sound just completely taking over in waves by the end.

On the flip side there are really fun synths to start which makes me think we're going into more of a new wave sound, which we sort of do.  "Take a Smooth Cruise" feels like a Cage the Elephant song, which is something we don't get enough of for sure.  (I wish I could compare more artists with Cage the Elephant)  Keys come in and by "European Weed" we're feeling a little bit twee.  

As this cassette reaches its end, the song "New Dreamer" has a little bit of That Thing You Do! way about it with a big sort of drum roll to end on.   This whole cassette just feels like an exploration in melodic rock and it's something which can really push those boundaries on certain songs, but overall they still have that same defining quality which makes this cassette so special.