CD Review: "Pull"

CD: Pull
ARTIST: Lake And Ocean

Remember the 1990's? Back when grunge and/or punk were said to have broken? Well, if you're a fan of bands from that era (as we are) you will love Lake and Ocean's five-song debut EP Pull; we're surprised how much we do.

The Magic Town-based indie/shoegaze sextet pulls together some nice Pixies/Sonic Youth-meets-Vaselines (?) grunge-flaked throwback sounding Brit-rock on their debut; what once was old is new again, or, depending on your perspective, never really got old.

The band -- Bryan Newruck (vocals, guitar), Nick Bradley (guitar), Andrew Matheny (bass), John Morgan (keys, vocals), Jill Hess (vocals, percussion), and Mark Samples (drums) -- has more members than songs on the CD yet displays nice writing, rich, full arrangements and production, all in a limited amount of time.

"Madame You" and "Prometheus" ("Who stole the fire, and gave it to these idiots?") open Pull, and by the time you get through the life-affirming title track (evoking Screaming Trees, singing "Pull the gun from your mouth," over and over) and "Two Minute Warning" -- sung delicately by Hess (Hope Sandoval?), and just over two minutes long -- the short, sweet sounding EP (just over 16 minutes long) is almost over.

"Bem Bem Boneca" closes Pull with soft acoustic intro meeting grungy bridges. Local fans of shoegaze may hear a kind of Sinks of Gandy/Red Velvet sound in parts; just a lazy comparison on our part.

While Pull is indeed short, the songs are catchy, the six members do a nice job introducing themselves, the female vocals help set the sound apart, and the CD is definitely worth listening to -- we'd rather hear five songs we dig than 10 we don't. A really good debut from these guys.

mp3: "Madame You" by Lake and Ocean


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