Puppy are proof that rock is alive and begging for your attention

UK alt.rock finds its new pack leader with London three-piece Puppy’s second album Pure Evil

By
( )
published
Puppy: Pure Evil cover art
(Image: © Rude)

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Youth of the 90s stand by, because you’re going to find the siren call of Puppy’s second album pretty difficult to resist. 

The London trio are shameless with their alt.rock touch-points, from the flint-edged melodicism of The Kiss that shadows Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins, to My Offer harvesting subtle motifs from Nirvana’s Love Buzz, to the queasy minor-key darkness of Spellbound, a hymn to Alice In Chains. 

Swimming in the warm and dreamy fuzz tone of the grunge years, punctuated with howling solos and uncompromising thrash outbursts, Pure Evil is a lovingly crafted tribute in places, maybe, but it’s not a pastiche. 

The songwriting is too accomplished for that – this is their own, millennial take on a genre they love, giving it fresh, vital new life for a whole new generation. In an era when so many outside of the scene are proclaiming rock to be dead, Puppy are proof that it is alive, well and sitting up begging for your attention.

Emma Johnston

Emma has been writing about music for 25 years, and is a regular contributor to Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog and Louder. During that time her words have also appeared in publications including Kerrang!, Melody Maker, Select, The Blues Magazine and many more. She is also a professional pedant and grammar nerd and has worked as a copy editor on everything from film titles through to high-end property magazines. In her spare time, when not at gigs, you’ll find her at her local stables hanging out with a bunch of extremely characterful horses.