Pulled Apart By Horses have been at this for a while. Almost a decade into their career, the Leeds rockers have grown confident and comfortable. On ‘The Haze’, their fourth album, they go with their gut. “Fuck everyone else,” is how vocalist and guitarist Tom Hudson put it.
Rejuvenated by the addition of hard-hitting drummer Tommy Davidson, who replaced Lee Vincent following the release of 2014’s ‘Blood’, ‘The Haze’ represents Pulled Apart By Horses doing exactly what they want. It picks up where strong tracks from their previous release, like Skull Noir, left off but with added urgency and sharper songwriting.
Throughout they indulge a plethora of influences, with their love of ‘70s rock worn proudly on their sleeves for Neighbourhood Witch and Flash Lads, while on Prince of Meats they dip into the ‘90s for a sound that would make grunge overlords like Dinosaur Jr. sit up and take note.
The title track gets thing off to a ferocious start, with Hudson’s gravelly vocals front and centre from the offset. It’s a statement of intent for his performance on the rest of the record, which sees his previously understated drawl updated to include an impressive range, most notably on My Evil Twin. Meanwhile, it seems Hudson, guitarist James Brown and bassist Rob Lee have spent the last few years consuming a diet of heavy fuzz as, along with Davidson’s propulsive beats, they create some hefty soundscapes here.
That said, Lamping sees the band return momentarily to old self-indulgent tricks and, as a result, the record’s momentum comes to sharp halt midway through. It could be argued that the song is a minute too long, or four minutes and 22 seconds too long if you really want to be cut-throat about it. It adds nothing to proceedings, other than providing a brief break after the five face-melting tracks that preceded it. If this were a live show Lamping would be the toilet break.
Tracks like The Big What If and Hotel Motivation are the standout earworms here, with the latter, ironically, written out of Hudson’s frustration at suffering writer’s block. Moments like the more simplistic Moonbather, though, also show the band don’t always have to go balls to the wall. As they say in the song: “There’s still life in the old dog yet.” Pulled Apart By Horses now know that they don’t have to pummel you into submission every time to prove it.
Pulled Apart by Horses Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Mon March 27 2017 - OXFORD O2 Academy Oxford
Tue March 28 2017 - LONDON Scala
Wed March 29 2017 - BRISTOL Thekla
Thu March 30 2017 - SOUTHAMPTON Talking Heads
Sun April 02 2017 - BIRMINGHAM Mama Roux's
Mon April 03 2017 - NORWICH Waterfront Norwich
Wed April 05 2017 - GLASGOW King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
Thu April 06 2017 - MANCHESTER Sound Control
Fri April 07 2017 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Think Tank?
Sat April 08 2017 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
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