Do you like your music as big as your balls? Good, your going to f*cking love Pulled Apart By Horses new album then. For anyone who is a proud owner of their self titled debut or has ever had the sweaty, blood splattered pleasure of seeing them perform live you will know that Pulled Apart By Horses are straight up balls out/balls to the wall assault in rock. Is that too many testicle references? No? We didn’t think so either.
‘Tough Love’ is the sound of a more focused band taking their craft seriously. Where as the debut (while brilliant) was a party collection of songs and the sound of a band enjoying themselves, essentially having a laugh with a series of in-jokes, Tough Love is a shot at mega-stardom.
Gone are the ridiculous, if funny, song titles (I’ve Got Guestlist to Rory O’Hara’s Suicide’, ‘I Punched A Lion In The Throat’) and lyrics about High Five’s (High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive) and fighting gypsies (Get Of My Ghost Train) and in are straight to the point one word titles and clear concise onslaughts of power; like lead single and album opener ‘V.E.N.O.M’, where singer Tom Hudson growls his way through a three minute burst of Armageddon esc audio pleasure, which literally sounds like he could loose a lung at any point.
‘Wolf Hand’ holds one of the best opening lines from a song ‘When I was a kid I was a d*ck, but nothing changes’. While ‘Epic Myth’ sees the band tackle what could be considered a ‘hooky’ singalong chorus to blistering effect.
Yes they still sound like a post hardcore band – there is still aspects of The Jesus Lizard and At The Drive-In but now they can also be compared to rocks big boys like Queens Of The Stone Age and dare we say it AC/DC! All in all this is the sound of a band wanting to progress, and progress they shall. With the singles from the debut ‘accidentally’ somehow making it onto the Radio One playlist only time will tell before we see how astronomical this record goes, expect them to be breaking in to the main stream and grabbing it by the, ahem, balls (sorry).
New single ‘V.E.N.O.M.’ released today and this lot are playing a Rough Trade East instore on 23rd January, from our past experiences with PABH and Rough Trade instores they are well worth a visit. Tour kicks off next month…
13 // GLASGOW, King Tuts
14 // ABERDEEN, Tunnels
15 // NEWCASTLE, Digital Other Rooms
16 // SHEFFIELD, Leadmill
17 // MANCHESTER, Club Academy
18 // BRISTOL, Fleece
20 // BIRMINGHAM, Library
21 // NORWICH, Waterfront
22 // SOUTHAMPTON, Talking Heads
23 // LONDON, Electric Ballroom