Pearly
Cognitive Learning EP
With the bio almost feeling like its printed on recycled paper and limiting itself to only three pages in length, it seems Dunc’s previous eco-warrior comments may have struck a chord with the boys from Pearly. Musically though, that indie vibe akin to the mate that you still hang around just because he’s a little weird and helpless is still there except that this time round he’s just that bit more clued up, if the opener ‘Map of the Stars’ is anything to go by that is.
Here we have a track that starts in that plodding twangy indie sort of way, daring you to find something to lean against, but then all of a sudden it launches itself at you like an upset tarantula before coiling back up and being miserable again. It’s the sort of song I usually wouldn’t notice, passing it off as something David Grey might have done to try and sound ‘down with the kids’ however, there is an edge here that really keeps the attention. The excellent build from the guitars is a large part of it, the drums then add to this, the vocals then suddenly border on screamo and bang, its all over again until the next time round. A very decent song by the third listen!
The title track then pops its head round the door to ask in a shoegazey sort of way whether it can borrow a cup of energy to spice itself up a bit. It can’t. I’m all out of energy, so it slopes off again and I nearly forget it was here at all if it wasn’t for the odd sad lyric still lingering around and making me stare out of the window wistfully.
‘Agent 9’ then pays a visit and I’m momentarily drawn away from staring at 19:15 from Waterloo meandering past by some more self prodding and depressive lyrics that are actually very well written. There is a clear battle going on in the writers head between seeing things for what they are and trying to be happy about it. And I agree. Cynically speaking the music is derivative, tedious and uninspiring however, the lyrics are something that clearly deserve something better. Tempo changes, more experimental/aggressive guitar and a healthy musical dose of the sort of anger the lyrics elude to is what’s needed here.
‘Night on the Tiles’ then ups the pace and kicks me out of my trance. Its more aggressive, has a funky riff and, what’s that, a rock n roll strut! True, it needs more of a funky/nasty bassline and the second guitar could do with refinement and more pace, but this is just the sort of track that was probably needed a bit earlier on the EP.
‘Pictures of Hawaii’ then wraps things up with a load of off kilter piano playing and backing vocals which sort of work quite well in a trippy/arty way. It’s interesting but not that gripping.
Going by this release Pearly certainly have talent and ideas, both of which have yet to be fully realised. They just need to be a bit more daring in the right places and not be afraid to let in the rock a bit more, because it won’t mean for a second that they’d lose their melodies – it may even make them better.
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Written by Habert on
