The Purrs
Tearing Down Paisley Garden (Big Damn Deal)
You know when Alan McGee declares a band to be the best he’s heard EVER – these senior moments which usually involve an act who’ve studied Wheeler 18 to the last clodhopping riff and seem to crop up every couple of weeks?
Well, he could save himself a lot of trouble by simply nabbing a copy of this album by Seattle’s The Purrs. Broadly, and not in a ‘mean’ kind of way, the band sound like they’ve absorbed a little bit of everything Creation during the ten years they’ve been on the go.
From the opener ‘Only Dreaming’ – roughly equal measures of Teenage Fanclub and the Jesus and Mary Chain – the band exude little sparks of UK indiepop, with their own songwriting credentials the glue that holds everything together. It’s not quite all Creation-inspired but you can be sure McGee would be palpitating at this lot – ‘Just A Little More’ is kind of like the TV Personalities but with some Swervedriver sonics and a vague Velvets drawl. There’s hints of Glasvegas and chums too, but happily, nothing quite plumbing the depths of the brothers Gallagher. Oddly, there’s little feel of their home city, Seattle – but then again, what has ever come out of the Pacific northwest worth shouting about?
Bernhard Bessing
