pulses. continues to offer different strokes of themselves.

VA outfit pulses. are dropping “Different Strokes,” the second taste of their upcoming third record this Friday. This is the follow up to their last single from the same record; “Run the Ghouls,” which was ghoulishly heavy in contrast to the more pop inspired “XO (Sold Out),” both of which dropped last year. “Different Strokes” plays in similar spaces as “Ghouls,” which I was fortunate enough, once again, to hear before the general public.

The song has a cold open, which begins “Different Strokes” with a sense of urgency, edge and danger that we haven’t seen too much of on pulses. end. The second time it comes around we get all the boys in and have that usual sense of a good time in the best way possible. I absolutely love how pulses. manages to make one riff have two totally different tones and emotions in under thirty seconds.


The verses on this one are so huge, so heavy and these vocal takes are totally nasty in the best way. We’ve seen pulses. influences in the past and those show here. Not in a “band writes a copycat song” way, in a “band is taking everything they love about music in general and making it their own” way. There’s an entire breakdown in verse one. There’s also a laser effect in the back there that sounds like the Tower of Power arcade game but make it a metal riff. It gets me going every time. On verse two I’m loving the use of surround sound. In one ear you get slow and paced out metal but in the other you get just absolute riffing. When you bring it all together it comes together to form a piece of music that lets you vibe out but also keeps on the threshold of heavy in a big way.


I am absolutely loving the direction of these new songs and looking forward to the new project in its entirety. Between “Run the Ghouls” and now “Different Strokes” album three looks like pulses. heaviest record yet. You can listen to this single in two days, but to tide you over you can listen to “Run the Ghouls” and watch the video now. You can also catch them at the Canal Club in Richmond, VA on May 6th. I’ll put some links where you can do all of that below. And as always, thank you to pulses. for trusting me with your music early.


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