Album Review: Pulse - Monarch of the Plains
"Look in a mirror once in awhile. It's not that hard," snarls Alana Johnson on the Huntington Beach band Pulse's ferocious debut full length Monarch Of The Plains' second song "Just Like Hunter S. Thompson's Blues". This is a very high energy rock and roll band with hot potato garage and punk n roll flourish paired with rollicking surfy beats and a ton of attitude. I am loving the high energy injection that bands like Pulse, Vial or Amyl are bringing out to the forefront of the underground of late. So much more reflective and sharp lyrics and less patriarchal hierarchy than the tropes in a lot of hardcore that has turned more macho than community. "Mr. Boogie" talks about following your own vision amidst a lot of cultural banality and distraction, over a punchy drum kit. "Saw the newest film everyone said to see/but I left halfway through. They never speak to me." It also talks about fading convictions, which really speaks to me...
