purest of pain

Purest of Pain Cut Down Their Screen Time On "Vessels"

Barring those that run in kinkier circles, nobody likes to be scolded. Few things feel more condescending than being chided for doing something you know you shouldn’t do. This is why there’s a sizable crowd that finds media like the television show Black Mirror so obnoxious. Not because the show is challenging their lifestyle, but because it does so in a patronizing manner. No matter how true the its criticisms may be, it comes across as a parent checking in on your table manners.

Purest of Pain are equally troubled by your dining etiquette on their new video for “Vessels,” which you can stream below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KlBwjSLBM&feature=youtu.be

Don’t spill your wine! Stop eating the goo with your hands! And put away your goddamn phone! “Vessels” is a dinner party gone horribly wrong. Singer J.D. Kaye sits at the head of the table while his bandmates fiddle with their smartphones. Gradually the phones secrete an inky sludge that the band use to make a total mess of themselves. Purest of Pain want to make sure that you walk away without a shred of doubt about their feelings on smartphones; these devices are wrecking your life.

Their music is well suited for this to-the-point visual language. Purest of Pain operate in broad melodic gestures and their hi-fi production grants them a huge sonic podium to lecture from. They make the most of the platform. The song alternates between eerie melody and open strumming during the chorus and tight controlled palm muting in its verse, making more room for Kaye’s mid-pitched snarl. Each new twist feels deliberate and natural, making the song feel appropriately aggressive but also assured. This makes its message, self-evident as it may be, feel earned.

Most music that goes down smoothly generally doesn’t ask that you eat your vegetables. Popular music is largely affirmative. It doesn’t seek to change your behavior so much as justify it. Pop is there to tell you are the hero of your own story, that it is okay to spend extra at the bar, that, in the words of Mad Men, everything that you are doing is ok. The burden of actually challenging the listener falls on the underground. Now put away your phone and eat your slime like an adult.

Solipsis is out now. You can follow Purest of Pain on Facebook.

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