Pure Protein
Winner Goes Home
Self-Released, 2020
Review by Kent Manthie
Pure Protein, a Los Angeles-based band, has a brand-new debut EP that hits the streets May, 8, 2020. L.A.’s a long way from Home for the main man in Pure Protein (M.W. Powell, native of Mississippi and recent transplant to the City of Angels.
Before heading west, Powell hooked up with Oxford, MS-based indie collective, Cats Purring Collective. A smattering of examples that have been a part of Cats Purring include Bass Drum of Death, Dent May, Flight, Dead Gaze and Gray Things. Many of these up-and-comers, in the Oxford, MS collective had a chance, being in close proximity, to mix it up with other bands/artists in the collective; to be in the position where you’re not all alone, having to write songs, make demos and hope for the best. With Cats Purring, there was a system of support and/or mutual aims among the variegated bands in the collective.
Their debut, an EP: Winner Goes Home is certain to strike up a thoroughly modern sensibility. The EP starts out with the title track; a smooth, laid-back poppy-pop track; something you might enjoy listening to while kicking back on a grassy hill in the summer, looking up at a clear sky or one with those harmless white fluffy clouds.
The rest of the EP goes in the same vein. Nebulous, “get-happy” tunes, guaranteed to keep your mind from wandering too far into its dark recesses and staying where it’s light and airy.
“Happy Birthday” has a couple catchy hooks in it that seems to keep one’s attention. It’s a pleasant, even-handed, straight-ahead indie pop tune. The last song, “Dog Hill” is a coda for a ear-pleasing batch of songs that, while lacking depth, make up for it with catchy hooks, jingle-jangle guitar riffs, and breathy vocals. Nothing heavy, just a not-unhappy interlude. –KM.
Independent Review 