Pumajaw - Demonmeowmeow

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 15 / 10 / 2011

Label: Bedevil Records
Format: CD

intro

Odd combination of the beautiful and the unlistenable on latest album from Scottish-based electronic duo, Pumajaw

Mood over music only works with a compelling voice backed by quality drone repetition. Half of Pumajaw is ex-Loop moody boy John Wills, an experienced man of the dark. His better half in Pumajaw is Pinkie Maclure whose timbre vaguely recalls Marlène Dietrich. At eight tracks and 52 minutes, 'Demonmeowmeow' tends to go on a bit. Track two, 'In the Outlands', shows a great amount of imagination in its music and vocal grace. The thin line Pumajaw walks already show on the nausea of the next track, 'Tallulah'. 'The Safe Inside' returns to the earlier sound of Pumajaw with a slice of twang and bite but evolves into a hypnotic spiral. This sensuality turns rather socio-political on 'Chinny-Chin-Chin' and is beautifully haunting. With a few tracks I couldn't help thinking it was a Soft Cell vinyl single played at 33 rpm. Then again the formula works well on the closing esoteric track 'Tumbledown'. A modest album with question marks instead of exclamation marks.

Track Listing:-