SHREYA BOSE
INDIE
reviews
Girls Amass (Purple Patch): It is
difficult to go wrong with classic
rock influences. On the other hand,
it is also difficult to really stand out
with classic rock influences. At this
point, even the most casual listener
has heard enough of The Who and
Deep Purple to identify the primary
riffs. It takes a whole other kind of
singularity (cue The Grateful Dead)
to distinguish a sound as unique in
this particular musical context.
Purple Patch, a Pune-based rock
band falls of achieving that
uniqueness. They are a perfectly
solid, technically by-the-book
unit that remain faithful to the
time-tested feel good sounds.
Dominated by the guitar,
the band swerves
22
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
through
a slew of
not-unpleasant
arpeggios in every
song. Unfortunately,
the vocalist’s drawl does
not fit into the mix. It is
often misaligned with the
instrumentals and displays a
heavy, inauthentic-sounding
accent. Instead of locating his
own musical sweet spot, he
sounds like he is trying to emulate
his favourite vocalist. While that
might be a touching tribute, he is
also trying entirely too hard.
Girls Amass is not bad, but it is too
obviously amateurish. There is not
much that makes it memorable, be
it the convoluted plea to a lover
in Go Easy or the half-nasal
enunciation in Hands All Over.
Can that be forgiven since this is
just their debut and the band
is probably trying to come
into its own musically?
That, listener, is for
you to answer.