Trying to be a breath of fresh air in an already well established music scene can be one of the most challenging tasks for a musician but Pulo Reve appear to have done it with both ease and style.
Bringing together an interesting mix of quick-fire poetry, very much in the spoken word stylings we’d expect from Scrubious Pip, with emotional but heavy post-hardcore, the St. Albans based quintet have definitely found their niche. This is most noticeable on the first two songs, ‘Of All The Bodies In The World’, which instantly starts with the aforementioned spoken words and ‘And There Lies His’ which takes on more of a rap approach, think TRC for comparison.
Mostly percussion driven there’s a real variety of musical genres tied together and woven throughout this release including melodic, post-hardcore, jazz and at times, some classical song structures. That being said there’s no shortage of punchy guitars and breakdowns that have been layered with desperate and emotional vocals that sound as though they’re being delivered from a tear streamed face alongside bloodshot eyes. Although this particular mixture isn’t particularly new for anyone that’s a fan of Goodtime Boys, La Dispute and the other bands that make up ‘The Wave’, Pulo Reve put their own spin on things and manage to make it sound entirely original by mixing in harmonies and catchy clean sung choruses amongst the chaos.
The band claim that they want to “become known for the emotion and care” that goes into creating their records, and wants to create a sound that “reflects both the kindness of those we play for”. With a full LP set for release later this year and having just completed a tour promoting this EP, Pulo Reve are showing no signs of slowing down and are clearly ready to put the necessary work in to stand out from the rest.
JAMES DAVENPORT