Slow Pulp had humble beginnings. Started by three childhood friends — guitarist Henry Stoehr, drummer Teddy Mathews and bassist Alex Leeds — the trio later met Emily Massey during their college years, and she quickly became Slow Pulp's missing puzzle piece as lead vocalist and guitarist. The band's second full-length album, Yard, comes after a year of touring that found the four-piece opening for indie rock royalty like the Pixies, Death Cab for Cutie and Alvvays. And just like these bands before them, the now-Chicago based Slow Pulp are part of a new generation of guitar bands carrying the torch for introspective songs densely packed with impossibly cool hooks and emotionally compulsive subject matter.
On Yard, Slow Pulp expand on their poppy shoegaze with tufts of unpredictable melody that they first toyed with on their 2020 debut Moveys. The wiry, lighthearted power-pop that defined their early EPs moved toward a more gentle, melancholic perspective on Moveys, highlighted by standout alt-country tracks like "Montana" and "Falling Apart." Yard's "Broadview" follows in a similar vein, adding light fringes of side-stepping acoustic twang to their usual downtempo guitar riffs. The lethargic cadence on opener "Gone 2" is daydreamy Slow Pulp at their finest, with Massey singing in her laid-back fashion, "Could you love me tomorrow or is it gone?" The tiny plinks and swings of violin add a new dimension to "Carina Phone 1000," bringing Massey's warm, charming voice to the forefront where she later accepts, "That's life I guess."
Still, Slow Pulp is a rock band at heart, and Yard is the natural progression of a group who figured out the pure joy of fuzzy power-pop songs early in their career. Playful lead single "Cramps" is decidedly confident as Massey wails, "I'll take anything that you wanna give / But I want everything," over loud, crackling guitars and driving, blown out drums before glitching out with pitched-up voices singing that same chorus. The energy is evident elsewhere as the jittery, downcast guitars on "MUD" unravel and splay into a buoyant pop-punk headbanger. Similarly, "Doubt" is bright and punchy with enough do-do-do's to make you want to drive to the beach with the top down. Later, the sweaty summertime love song "Slugs" gently plods with an entrancing slowcore beat, feeling tingly while it reels in the innocence of a first crush.
As a group that have faced their growing pains together, Slow Pulp strike the perfect balance between soft, thoughtful and loud on Yard. Tangled up in nervousness about being either too selfish or too self-pitying, the band finds a way to wring out the drab fabric of discomfort until a bit of beauty trickles out.
(ANTI- Records)On Yard, Slow Pulp expand on their poppy shoegaze with tufts of unpredictable melody that they first toyed with on their 2020 debut Moveys. The wiry, lighthearted power-pop that defined their early EPs moved toward a more gentle, melancholic perspective on Moveys, highlighted by standout alt-country tracks like "Montana" and "Falling Apart." Yard's "Broadview" follows in a similar vein, adding light fringes of side-stepping acoustic twang to their usual downtempo guitar riffs. The lethargic cadence on opener "Gone 2" is daydreamy Slow Pulp at their finest, with Massey singing in her laid-back fashion, "Could you love me tomorrow or is it gone?" The tiny plinks and swings of violin add a new dimension to "Carina Phone 1000," bringing Massey's warm, charming voice to the forefront where she later accepts, "That's life I guess."
Still, Slow Pulp is a rock band at heart, and Yard is the natural progression of a group who figured out the pure joy of fuzzy power-pop songs early in their career. Playful lead single "Cramps" is decidedly confident as Massey wails, "I'll take anything that you wanna give / But I want everything," over loud, crackling guitars and driving, blown out drums before glitching out with pitched-up voices singing that same chorus. The energy is evident elsewhere as the jittery, downcast guitars on "MUD" unravel and splay into a buoyant pop-punk headbanger. Similarly, "Doubt" is bright and punchy with enough do-do-do's to make you want to drive to the beach with the top down. Later, the sweaty summertime love song "Slugs" gently plods with an entrancing slowcore beat, feeling tingly while it reels in the innocence of a first crush.
As a group that have faced their growing pains together, Slow Pulp strike the perfect balance between soft, thoughtful and loud on Yard. Tangled up in nervousness about being either too selfish or too self-pitying, the band finds a way to wring out the drab fabric of discomfort until a bit of beauty trickles out.
