5 out of 5

Label: Chunklet Industries

Produced by: Gary T. Flom (recorded by)

Wow. Surprises on various fronts from The Purkinje Shift, if you’ve been following along over the years.

Firstly, the most recent singles have set a trend of leading off with a pummeling rocker, then having something a bit more swoony and paced on the B-side, and this single flips that. (It kinda double flips it – I mean, not back to the original state, but there’s a twist-within-a-twist, but more on that in a moment.) Secondly, while I dig the reliability of TPS’ sound, that’s also – for me – what holds them back from being repeats on my listens. Arguably one or two tracks are all you need to get the gist. It didn’t necessarily used to be this way, as earlier albums (and Moreland Audio) allowed in for some rawer edges and wandering, and more emotion, but I appreciate how this might sound “right” to older ears.

Anyhow, perhaps the group got the most strident version of that rigidity out of the way, because both tracks here manage to marry the old and the new: the playings are tight as ever, but the band is just interested in trying on some new sounds and tones here, and it sounds awesome. And with that shift comes some clarity as to why this stuff didn’t stick with me before: Punk Jackson / Loser have our trio responding to each other, as opposed to playing from a script. This makes sense: Purkinje started releasing semi-regularly again after a long dormancy; it follows it would take a few releases to get to a certain comfort level again.

Pink Jackson has a rambling, moody riff with some very playful guitar affectations. My only complaint here is that the titles should’ve been swapped – this is a perfect soundtrack for someone dragging their way out of where they ain’t wanted: it’s kind of angry, kind of sad, kind of distant, kind of flippant. I’m really back in Moreland territory with this one.

Loser Leaves Town cracks me up before wowing me: it starts off with some slide riffage that typifies the Purkinje sound, and I’m like, okay, excellent A-side, prepping for a so-so B-side. But then the slide fades out… and we go into unknown territory, with slightly off-timed, loose riffage, and post-rock tempos that still bear the group’s penchant momentum, but again, responding to each other as opposed to playing to some angular rock template. It’s very much like the group is flipping a page to something new. (Which maybe makes the title logical in a way, but even a doubter like m’self wasn’t calling the group losers!)

I’m finally reviewing this in 2024 versus a 2020 release, and we’ve seen dormancy from TPS once more. Should they return, I’d love for them to pick up here, and not have to go through the warm-up of an album and several singles.