Both PULBY and labelmates PRIMITIVE PAINTER caught Whisperin' & Hollerin's ear with their debut split 7" and Belfast's Primitive Painter cemented this impression with the vividly good "Armadillo In The Snow" EP a couple of months back.
"The Soundfreeze" EP, however, is quite possibly the best Dead Digital release as yet, with the enigmatic Pulby demonstrating that there's a thoroughly human heart beating beneath the warm and engaging electronica.
Lead track, "Seven Days In Space" is terrific, with the initially warped sensurround giving way to stridently bouncy and approachable bass-y rhythms and an off-kilter astronaut report tickled by what sounds like real trumpet interjections. At a full seven and a half minutes it's not even remotely difficult to listen to and may even be too short. Electronica's "Space Oddity" anyone?
"Highlights," meantime, is considerably more urgent, with perpetual motion bassline thrum buoying up some fractured funk (strangely close to an electro take on Talking Heads to these ears) and some more disembodied vocals. The "you've got a hold on me" hookline is by no means inaccurate. This is intelligent stuff alright.
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The Ep signs off with two further slices of fascinating (mis)information. "Big White" is tense, anxious and fragmented; apparently built around a great, neurotic bassline, screes of noise and a nagging choral vocal factor, while "The End Of The Soundfreeze" puts a logical full stop on the proceedings with its' weird'n'wonky cyclical samples, slo-mo reggae beats and lonely piano. Unlikely, but attractive.
In the best enigmatic tradition, Pulby (and label mentors Dead Digital) are allowing their fascinating wares to seep out surreptitiously rather than thrusting them in our faces. "The Soundfreeze" EP is all the better for that and is the very best of their releases yet. Topping this one will be a tall order.
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