A draggy melancholic ambient mood setter

Returning from a six-year hiatus, the Austin, Texas band, Pure X, returns with their twelve track, 4th album, Pure X, a sound that follows their same acclaimed sound from their past works with an emphasis geared toward a punk approach.

The album features swapping guitars that form a grungy tone, soft folky strums that vibe saddened empathetic melodies alongside the lax narcotic vocals of Nate Grace and energy that allude to other acts such as Deerhunter, Tamaryn, and Diners. Debuting the album, the critically acclaimed, and one of the project’s top-grossing performance “Middle America” comes surging in with harsh and slow strums to empathetic vocals. With an official video released in complement with the track, the video displays random and miscellaneous low budget homemade videos and scenes to give an artistic splash to Middle America.

Slow-paced and draggy, “Hollywood” is the essence of a sleepy afternoon manifested into a melody that calls to be enjoyed while reading a favorite book on the couch along with other tracks later in the album that give similar vibes. Bearing classical punk-rock tones “Angels of Love” crashes in with head-bopping tunes to thrash to mildly on the bed or while doing chores around the home.

“Free My Heart Coasts” a downward tone-setting after “Angels of Love,” with soft repetitive vocals and light rhythmic strumming to give a dreamy feel with a chill combination with “Making History” gives the album a quite lax center to relax and unwind. “Fantasy” marks the halfway point of the album with faded guitars that make for an underground hole-in-the-wall punk scene that abides only to those who mosh religiously. Depressing lyrics and lo-fi guitars will spill out a slow sway melancholy experience when heeding “Man With No Head” in complements with “How Good Does It Get” with similarities in tone and melody.

Pull up a chair and your favorite craft beer for “Slip Away” and “Grieving Song,” set with the already accustomed low vocals and lo-fi guitars, the two require you take a load off, take a breath, and kick back to the somber melodies. Percussions reveal their place in “Stayed Too Long” giving the much-needed base support these somber chiming guitar melodies to construct a thrilling rewind just before the dreamful outro track, “I Can Dream.”

Pure X remains loyal to the group’s unique sound and production, a feat, listeners enjoy when listening to one of their beloved artists because of the desire to relisten to that same muse that captured them once before without much deviation.