→

PUJOL - Kludge (AV Club Full Album Preview)

I do not know Daniel Pujol personally. However, from all the reviews and interviews I’ve read he’s always struck me as the intellectual type. A reader. A thinker. A rabbit owner. Not exactly personality traits that I associate with sometimes aggressive rock music. His first record, United States of Being, seemed at odds with these assumptions I’d made about his personality. Maybe that’s unfair because I don’t know anything about him and, let’s be real, personality and musical expression are allowed to be at odds with each other.

Long story short, I went into listening to Kludge a little hesitant. Would it be another high energy rock attack, devoid of the thinking man’s insight that I wanted from it? Well, I can honestly say that it’s very high energy, very catchy and very inspiring to swell a crowd into a frenzy. Fortunately, it also shows, for lack of a better word, a gentler side.

“Manufactured Crisis Control” is as frantic as you could imagine but there’s something to the lyrics that underlie that energy. Self doubt and personal growth are not elements you might expect in this setting. “Spooky Scary” feels downright sweet and “Small World” seems like an anthem for figuring out your place in the world.

This is far more words than I typically pay any album but Pujol fascinates me in some weird way. Kludge is available May 20th and he plays the East Room this weekend – Saturday, May 17th to celebrate it.