Pulled Apart By Horses -Tough Love

Mon 6th Feb, 2012 in Music Reviews

Leeds quartet Pulled Apart By Horses return triumphantly with their second LP Tough Love. Best described as brutal pop punk due to its combination of catchy songwriting and relentless energy, the record continues in a similar vein to its predecessor (2010’s eponymous debut) and is packed with skittering beats and bone-crunching riffs that could translate quite comfortably to a stadium environment while retaining the excitement of more D.I.Y.-oriented styles.

Opener V.E.N.O.M. is a rapid-fire blast that manages to exude menacing aggression, driven by vocalist Tom Hudson’s visceral cries of ‘Slow your breathing, you haven’t got a pulse!’, yet retain an undeniable sense of ebullience – you can almost see the band cracking wide grins as they smash away on their instruments. Recalling a similar spirit to forgotten London dance punk trio Test Icicles, Wolf Hand manages to find amusement in the bleak monotony of life in the gritty working class setting of northern England – its brilliant opening line ‘When I was a kid I was a dick/But nothing changes!’ is an album highlight.

The ominous Shake Off The Curse deserves to be listened to at full volume, its surging beats and duelling guitars serving as an aural battering ram before stretching out during the final minute and exploring a more atmospheric timbre. Curiously, Epic Myth begins before Shake Off The Curse even ends without resembling a traditional segue at all, but it is an unexpected anomaly like this that represents the band’s edgy, slightly unpredictable ethos. Powerful guitars and percussion once again dominate, with the track’s stop-start dynamics punctuated by Hudson’s anguished but somehow reassuring screams of ‘You’re not alone’. Some Mothers surges by at a blistering pace and seems to urge anyone in the vicinity to jump up and start thrashing around the room.

The menacing Night Of The Living flies by with a visceral energy, and features one of the record’s precious few brooding, haunting sections where everything is given space to breathe. Wildfire, Smoke & Doom is one of the most immense moments on the record and combines the best aspects of the band’s sound by simultaneously showcasing Hudson’s ear for a hook, guitarist James Brown’s propensity for searing riffs and drummer Lee Vincent’s crushing beats. Bromance Ain’t Dead, potentially the record’s strongest track, is similarly potent and drives forward with relentless vigour as Hudson and bassist/backing vocalist Robert Lee chant with the fury of a pair of bears with sore heads.

The powerful Give Me A Reason features a gnarly bass riff in its mid-section where Lee is allowed to take centre stage, and while the poppy Degeneration Game is easily the most radio-ready material here, the umbrage is still strong enough that the neighbours would lodge a complaint if it was played on Triple M. Closer Everything Dipped In Gold drips with feedback and sinister undertones and contains the closest thing to a sing-along chorus since V.E.N.O.M..

Everything on Tough Love hits hard and the record’s total absence of filler is refreshing in an age where too many artists settle for two or three solid tracks and a bunch of bland sludge sandwiched between them. Most importantly, the record is highly charged throughout and never feels even slightly stale. Listening to the whole thing in one sitting (despite its relatively short duration of just over 32 minutes) is a heavy experience, and certainly shouldn’t be recommended to those with heart problems or high blood pressure.

At times recalling Gallows, Slade, The Darkness, Test Icicles and Yourcodenameis:milo, these songs would surely be even more incendiary in a live setting, and the amount of energy and potency jammed into Tough Love ensures that Pulled Apart By Horses have cemented themselves as one of the most exciting punk bands in the contemporary UK scene.