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PVRIS’ debut album towers over its contemporaries

Bold first full-length is a mixture of talent and tenacity

Discovering a band at the release of their debut album is like discovering the next great football star right as he scores his first touchdown. Like the somewhat avant garde spelling of their name, PVRIS (pronounced “Paris”) has carved out their own sound, which seems to fuse together the vocals of Echosmith, the musicianship of Paramore and the lyricism of Purity Ring. It’s not to say the group copies the styles of these bands, but this point of reference showcases their musical prowess.

PVRIS first gifted the music world earlier this year with a few singles and an excellent acoustic EP, which is definitely one of the year’s strongest releases. Upon first listen of any of the songs in PVRIS’ repertoire, listeners will first be drawn to lead singer Lyndsey Gunnulfsen’s signature voice. Powerful and yet smooth as silk, her delivery really comes through on tracks like “My House” and “Ghosts.”

PVRIS’ debut LP album, “White Noise,” boasts several tracks with soaring choruses, banging drums and eclectic synths. The first song, “Smoke,” sets the stage for the anthemic sounds throughout the album. One of the opening lines, “So let's get covered in flames and play some games with the smoke” accurately foreshadows the brand of fun PVRIS sets out to achieve. “White Noise” is quite the ride, and a careful listen will show off the band’s multifaceted appeal.

Besides the standout opening song, the title track is one of the band’s strongest efforts. The song emphasizes all the things that PVRIS does right: Gunnulfsen’s bright, spunky vocals tackling a catchy chorus, some novel, insane guitar work and a soft-edged dubstep breakdown.

The band can also be sassy and pugnacious, especially on tracks like “Holy.” By spitting the lyrics “You can right all the wrongs just to feel you belong/ But simply calling out sins [...] You’re just a ghost at most/ A set of empty bones,” PVRIS shows they aren’t afraid of anything. Their lyrics read like poetry — a rare moment of self-awareness for a band as young as this one.

This strong first effort is hopefully a testament to all the wonderful things to be heard from PVRIS. They make magnificent music and will have no problem gaining a fantastic following in the coming years.

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