Pulse Park are a three-piece indie rock band from Germany, and their debut album "Phonac Music" showcases their melodic and artistic sensibilities through ten bittersweet and emotive songs. While Pulse Park's sound is firmly rooted in familiar college-radio 90s rock a la Superchunk and Pavement, there is a sense of originality and immediacy to the tracks, accentuated by punchy drums, top-quality production, and mellifluous song structures.
The opening track, "Antibody", is a tightly assembled burst of art-punk, with a searching riff carried by raucous drums to an atmospheric chorus that soars. It's a perfect intro to the album; sweet and straightforward rock music but with a somewhat dark and melancholic twist. This speaks to the level of musical awareness Pulse Park have acquired; they can effortlessly turn energetic bursts of rock music into something deeper; like a comedy film where the main character dies. "Sine Wave" and "Icaric" marry sadcore with more garage notions, while "Strange Matter" is a radio-friendly pop-rock banger that has a truly touching acoustic instrumental outro. "Apollonian Heart" sounds like a hi-fi Guided By Voices, with guitarist/vocalist Magnusson showing their knack for penning intelligent sounding but simultaneously catchy songs. "Aspairt" offers some killer riffs but not much else. The album highlight "Factory Fire" is heartbreaking, with the lyric; "They all want you, but I want you the most," sung over minor chords and sounding like a tale of unrequited love turned into an obsession. "The Equidistance" is a snappy number, relying on Magnusson's talent for melody to compensate for more indulgent jam passages. On the closing track, "A Constant", drummer Oliver Polastri keeps a steady drum line running like a machine as the distortion pedal goes off and exposes all of the crestfallen emotion hidden underneath. Here, Pulse Park find their balance and produce a track that could proudly stand up to any other.
"Phonac Music" doesn't necessarily push any envelopes, but the charm is that Pulse Park don't need to. They can use tried and tested alternative rock formulas and still manage to entertain with their unique sound, which is impressive; the fact they have some great tunes is just a bonus.
★★★★
Phonac Music by Pulse Park (Album Review)Reviewed by Jay Honeycomb on 2022-06-25
Rating: 4