Purling Hiss: "The Hoodoo"

Rock ’n’ Rolllllllll. This seems to be the rallying cry continually issued by Mike Polizze’s Purling Hiss, the jam-y, glam-y, scuzz-y Philadelphia band who broke out with last year’s Public Service Announcement on Woodsist and a subsequent tour with friend Kurt Vile. Though Purling Hiss is rapidly gaining a following, Polizze, thankfully, doesn’t seem to be polishing up his sound for more widespread appeal. “The Hoodoo,” a track from the forthcoming Lounge Lizards EP, has reigned in the jam quotient a bit but not lost that guitar-driven sound that feels exactly like it should: dirty, sexy, exciting.

“The Hoodoo” has a homemade roughness that doesn’t seem quite right streaming digitally; Purling Hiss creates the kind of noise best suited to the faraway crackle of vinyl. While the vocals are muffled and the lyrics your standard fare (something about getting lost, “you’ve got to see it to believe it,” so on), the squealing guitar solos and power-pop chorus make up for anything and everything. A juxtaposition of various styles makes Purling Hiss more than garden-variety—there’s sing-along melody, Iggy Pop brand sexuality, grungy production, and even a touch of hair metal via Polizze’s curdling, spiky riffs. In essence, “The Hoodoo” is not afraid to lay its cards on the table from the get-go: this is what it says it is, pure and simple. If you’re looking for something complicated and sensitive, look elsewhere. Or maybe get your eyes stabbed in.