In honor of the album being released three years ago this month, I think it’s time to look back at the good old fetus PVRIS, with their debut album White Noise.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of artists’ first albums are… less than par. A lot of the times a debut album is made of some of the first songs that bands write, and these songs usually aren’t of stardom quality. But somehow, PVRIS blows this stereotype right out of the water.
Opening with the absolute banger ‘Smoke’, the album gets off to a great start, blasting you with crazy good instrumentation right off the bat. This song sets a great tone for the rest of the album, because the rest of the track list follows suit with the attitude set by the opener. Some other stand-out tracks off the album include ‘Holy’, ‘Fire’, ‘My House’, ‘Ghosts’, and ‘Let Them In’.
‘Holy’ and ‘Fire’ both feature incredibly biting lyrics, with both accusing people of being hypocritical when it comes to their faith, and relying on someone else to carry them through life, respectively. ‘Fire’ also features very heavy and strong instrumentation, with the lead guitar a driving force in the song.
‘My House’ is a song that makes you want to jump every time you hit the chorus. The driving guitars and drums, paired with Lynn Gunn’s (lead vocalist) commanding, growling vocals makes for an amazing listen. This song is surprisingly good for a debut song; the maturity that it holds as a song is incredible. The main message of the song is powerful and evident throughout – it doesn’t lose its’ stride lyrically throughout the progression of the song.
The real standout song on this album to me is ‘Ghosts’. It has a different sound than pretty much the rest of the album – it sounds much lighter instrumentally and lyrically, really the only light within the dark that is the rest of the album. It’s not a song trying to accuse anyone of anything, like with ‘My House’ or ‘Holy’, or really convince anyone of anything. It’s a song with a unique bridge, with Gunn’s haunting, hysterical laugh bubbling up right before the last chorus cuts in.
The very last song on the album, ‘Let Them In’, might as well have the title in all caps. Clearly one of the harder rock songs on the album, this song will pack a punch in your eardrums. Gunn’s growling vocals throughout the song show you she means business, and the aggressive guitar backs up her stance.
Overall, this album, as aforementioned, is incredible for a debut artist. PVRIS have shown the world that they are here and they are here to stay, with not only this album, but their most recent release, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell. I could not recommend both albums to anyone looking for a punk-electronic female-fronted band that has something fresh and new to offer.
