Words: Ryan Getz
Everyone that obsessively listens to music has a band or four or ten that are paradigm altering for them. For me, Polyenso is one of those bands.
Pure in the Plastic, though being a different beast than One Big Particular Loop, is the project that could and ought to propel Polyenso into the international spotlight. They have come into their own. While their freshman outing quietly established their presence, Pure in the Plastic is a bold declaration to the world.
A Billboard article this week called PitP “dazzling,” and now I’m a tad miffed I didn’t think of that sooner. The album as a whole is colorful, shimmers, and grooves, though not in an overly flamboyant way. Album opener “17 New Years” which made my top ten songs of last year by way of the band’s precursory EP 1, establishes a danceability not present on their earlier material amidst psychedelic layering sure to produce frisson (read: chills) in many.
“Where To Grow (Where to Be Born)” is the most immediately groovetastic jam on the record, mixing in some catchy whistling melodies with a tribal drumbeat. “Not My Real Life” definitely comes in a close second, with a nice hook of its own that rings true in my head long after the song ends. If you’re reading this and words like “hook” and “catchy” are ringing alarm bells in your head of the band selling out – you have nothing to fear. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH TRYING TO APPEAL TO A WIDER AUDIENCE, but I don’t think that’s what the band is going for here. The comparatively higher energy on this record projects an aura of the band being more comfortable in their own skin, completely severed from their previous entity, Oceana.
The moments of pensive “late night drive” melancholy that made me fall in love with Polyenso in the first place are definitely present here, albeit in a more subtle way. Some lovely saxophone carries us out in the previously mentioned “Not My Real Life.” The album closer “Moona Festival” has been mentioned as a bright spot on the album, though I think it’s not for the energy but of the optimistic, less angsty feel than the majority of the record. “Price” is a more traditional melancholy, mixing chillwave with the more beat heavy sounds we’ve been familiarized with thus far.
The final thing I’d like to point out is that not only is the mix of this record near perfect, the attention to detail in the recordings themselves is simply breathtaking. No element is untouched an every ethereal moment is surprisingly complex
This colorful psych pop record is something that is a dark horse contender for year end lists, and that ain’t no April Fool’s joke.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/240103391″ /]
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