There's room for more power pop in this world. I've always felt that way. And the crunchy hooks from New York outfit Pretty Rude are here to scratch that itch.
The trio's new record, Ripe delivers a clutch of concise ear-pleasers. While opener "The Caller" brought to mind Jellyfish a tiny bit for me, the catchier "Things I Do" made me remember U.K. outfit Silver Sun. Like those guys, Pretty Rude place a premium on fuzzy chords and robust backing vocals. The massed voices behind the hooks work here in a Queen-y way and reveal just how much snap and pop there is in the Pretty Rude attack.
The mix of Ripe is nice. There is a lot of space between vocals and the fuzzed out instruments, and each riff gets a lot of room. Alex Sinclair mixed this, and he did a Weezer album, but since I'm not a fan of Weezer, not sure how relevant that information will be to anyone. None of this Pretty Rude record sounds like Weezer to me, and that's a good thing to me. Ripe is short, full of stuff to crank up, and a couple of really catchy numbers.
Ripe by Pretty Rude is out now via SideOneDummy Records. Details below via Bandcamp too.
[Photo: Gustav Hein]