Slow Pulp’s sophomore album Yard follows 2020’s Moveys, a record that saw the band tackle disease diagnosis, the fallout from a serious car accident, as well as the pandemic. With Yard the band free themselves from the aforementioned restrictions and traumas, focusing their energy on what they can do, rather than what they can’t.
What they can do then, is deliver quietly defiant moments of introspection. Written in a country cabin and self-produced on a farm in rural Wisconsin, Yard reflects the isolated surroundings in which it was created. The songs are deeply intimate, more dynamic and compelling than their previous offerings, acting as moments of enduring self-reflection on an ever-winding road.
Most tracks slip under three minutes, flitting for the most part between lo-fi indie folk and summery soft grunge, brightened up with twinges of Americana. ‘Doubt’ and feedback laden ‘Cramps’ act as nostalgic, softly-coloured soundtracks, depicting growing pains that cease to end.
Slow Pulp effortlessly capture the intimacy of emotions and power of introversion, and with an album like Yard, the four-piece are solidifying themselves a legacy alongside greats of this temperament like Soccer Mommy and Beabadobee.