pure sound - submarine press

pure sound submarine home press

What they're saying about Submarine across Europe:

Rock’n’Reel (UK, July 2007)  ***
‘It’s challenging and often uneasy listening, thanks to tracks such as the slightly claustrophobic and paranoid "Atlas" on which semi-poetry and a deadpan delivery brings to mind John Cooper Clarke, and the frantic constantly changing mood and atmosphere of "The Most Exciting Moment of My Life" comes across like a nightmarish live radio broadcast reaching back through time. The gentle acoustic interlude of "Goodbye, I Mean It" sits incongruously amongst the series of musical experiments of Submarine. Difficult to define, Pure Sound confounds one’s musical preconceptions.’ Sean McGhee.

Ox magazine (Germany, October 07) 10/10
‘Here Pure Sound have exactly the right mixture of field recordings, experimental collage techniques and ambient found sounds. I loved it: rarely has a project been such a voyage of discovery over two albums. Whoever reads this column simply must buy this stuff!’

Skug magazine (Germany, August 2007)
'At 28 minutes it’s eventful and evening-filling, and is an interesting historical sound collage. And, British humour comes with these volumes from Manchester surely not too briefly.’

GAZ ETA (Poland)
'Following the highly addictive and realistically presented Yukon release, Pure Sound take a dive into the deep, cold ocean to come up with Submarine.

In using a collage of voices from the past and actual sounds of water as well as submarine machinery, the group is able to recreate the feeling of being trapped hundreds of feet underneath the ocean waves.

Title track recounts a story of a survivor of a 1915 sinking of the Lusitania. Lady Rhonda retells the story as the boat was sunk by a German submarine. The horror feels unbelievably real. Sounds of strung guitar motifs are interspersed with the sounds of water and the bleeps of a lost submarine going down deep into the cesspool of the ocean. "Believe in Something" retells the story of a lost soul walking aimlessly through the back halls of a worthless life, while "The Most Exciting Moment of My Life" features a highly over-excited guitar being plucked away, while a skewed voice tells a story.

Vince Hunt's bass work is as persistent as ever - adding only a few strums here or there. It's his mix of the tapes and vocals that make the album what it is. Boz Hayward's guitar strums are often times fierce, though even these are controlled to a point, while Simon Price adds some wonderful buzzing drill sounds, Harry Stafford throws in his vocals on occasion. As far as ambient music goes, Submarine is too busy to allow a person to actually relax. As far as an audio documentary, the album is priceless.' Tom Sekowski

Quiet Noise (Germany)
'Sure it’s only half an hour but it’s masterful without falling into the trap of artificial fillers. Respect.'

VITAL WEEKLY 575
'It seemed only a few weeks ago that I reviewed Yukon by a UK band Pure Sound, but it's a little bit longer ago (Vital Weekly 552). The band so far was Vince Hunt (bass, tapes, vocals), Simon Price (drill)  and Harry Stafford (vocals) and now with Boz Hayward on guitar. In general Submarine continues the sound of Yukon: a rock band that incorporates field recordings, alongside vocals, even when it's hardly singing, but more speaking voices. They no longer use the tags  as 'industrial rhythms' or 'colossal bass lines', but refer to their  music as ambient, which it surely fits the whole thing much better.
When there are voices/vocals used, they tell a small story, such as the title piece about the sinking of the Lusitania.
The field  recordings and instruments strongly stand aside of each other. Both  play their own role. Guitars are being strummed, playing repeating motifs and the field recordings made a background ambient hiss. The cover lists the lyrics as well as (some of) the sound sources used.
With twelve tracks at some twenty-eight minutes you can imagine that some of these pieces are bit short. And at that: too short. Some of the shorter pieces have the potential to be a larger piece, with more action happening or making a more complex piece.
There is more in it, than what now comes out of it. The longer pieces here, such as the title piece or "Breathe Deep, My Love" (with actually a banging rhythm) or "Get My Cutting Head Down" show this. Maybe Submarine was made a bit too hasty in order to have a quick follow up. But it still contains some fine music.' (FdW)