Pure X

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Pure X's comeback album is a return to form. On their 2011 debut, the Austin, TX, band made bleary, sun-soaked indie-rock that wandered somewhere between shoegaze, slowcore, and psych-pop of the Real Estate variety. On 2014's Angel and 2013's Crawling Up The Stairs, the band cleaned up the loud, smokey guitar leads and leaned harder into the loungey psych-rock side of their identity, resulting in a sound that made them less distinguishable from their many peers who either were or wanted to be signed to Woodsist.

After six years of radio silence, the group came back with a self-titled record that rivals the greatest moments of their previous three. Pure X is a pleasant realignment of what made the band so unique from the jump—a sound that translates the squinty-eyed, burnt-out daze one finds themselves in after a day of casually partying in the sun. Everything moves at a nonchalant pace and each part has a casual looseness to it. Guitar parts just ring and meander indefinitely, basslines shimmy through the crowd of jingling distortion, and the drums keep a subdued yet steady backbeat like the token designated driver.

Musically, Pure X is a vibe, but the album's lyrics are a lot more sentimental and sincere than their stoner playing styles would imply. Opener "Middle America" is about being stranded in the middle of the country with a family and realizing how much you miss the life of being a touring musician. "Hollywood" reads like a message to a younger self who's struggling to hold onto hope that things can actually get better: "Life; Life is worth living/ It may sound obvious/ Me and Hollywood," frontperson Nate Grace sings with tender understanding. The idea of a band returning to their roots has become a trite platitude at this point, but Pure X went ahead rediscovered their youthful purpose without foregoing the wise reflections they've accumulated since then. © Eli Enis/Qobuz