Drag on Girard

Philly power trio Purling Hiss make reliably great rock records centered around singer/guitarist/bandleader Mike Polizzes blissfully dazed songwriting style and walls of guitar fuzz. There have been some subtle deviations in style over the years (like how 2013s Water on Mars leaned extra hard into post-Nirvana grunge or how their 2016 album High Bias had hints of classic rock in its production), but the band keeps consistently to a core of straightforward melodies built into tried-and-true song structures and banged out with full energy, full distortion. Drag on Girard is more of the same, only this time with bigger drums, more emphatically screamed hooks, and even more guitars than usual. Its a barrage of blown-out leads and uptempo blasting from the beginning with opening track "Yer All in My Dreams," a bright and tuneful rocker heavy on soloing and grumbly harmony vocals akin to mid-period Dinosaur Jr. Though Polizzes sense of melody is complex and individualized, he applies it to songs that recall the energetic bluster of the Wipers ("Something in My Basement"), Green Minds woozy midtempo swaying ("Out the Door"), or Husker Dus hypercharged pop ("Stay with Us"). "Baby" somehow combines many of the albums key sounds into a mesmerizing tumble, its stomping rhythm piled with layers of guitar leads and Polizzes screamy but tuneful singing. With just eight songs, Drag on Girard follows the same classic rock flow of Led Zeppelins or Aerosmiths best records, complete with a drawn-out closing track in the form of the nearly-nine-minute jam-fest "Shining Gilded Boulevard." Drag on Girard isnt a minute too long or too short. Its another invigorating chapter in Purling Hiss ongoing saga, and their scraggly guitar rock is in its finest and most exciting form for the albums entire duration. ~ Fred Thomas