PTRNS Drop A Massive New Single
A new release from PTRNS brings out an addictive soundscape that feels very expansive and blends elements of grunge, alternative rock, hints of shoegaze looking just beneath the surface, and this gorgeous and catchy set of vocals that give off a certain kind of soulfulness which blends nearly perfectly with the music itself lending a different textural aesthetic to the entire track.
"Mary Jane" is like a warning, and it's one of those warnings our friends give us about that one person they know all about. You get a glimpse of her, you get pulled in, but your friends pull you aside and let you know that they know all about Mary Jane, and you don't want to get involved.
I love the sentiment of this track because it's such a useful one. It's something that a lot of us have experienced here or there in the past. We've all had those warnings, and I just find it awesome that PTRNS was able to actually put that into lyrics so brilliantly and get that sentiment to cross exactly the way it was intended to.
Now, other people may take it differently.
Nicole from the band mentions that the song is about a relationship on the brink and watching someone you care about walk into a toxic situation.
One of the things I loved about this track is that it involved so many different heavy rock influences. There's even post-rock in there. You have a gigantic Sonic presence coming from those guitars because they're layered and thick. They have a great distortion to them, and that helps those courses come in with a heavier impact.
There's a lot of melody involved, too. The actual progression of those guitars and of the song itself is awesome and brings things back to a sort of mid to late 90s or maybe even early 2000s heavy rock approach. The kind of stuff that you would hear in the underground world, but quickly coming up on MTV late at night.
This feels like the kind of stuff I grew up with. It is heavy but has character to it. It's not metal. It's heavy rock. The alternative rock aspect of it all is impactful and the entire song screams of the band's classic influences.
For me, personally, it feels like a blend of Hole and Cracker.
If you don't know either of those two bands, then get educated because these are the kinds of bands that thrived in the '90s and birthed a love for certain kinds of genres, which, in turn, birthed bands like PTRNS.
Aside from their incredible attention to driving guitars and elements of feedback that layer in extra haunts here and there, the vocals are intense.
One of the things I absolutely adored about this was the main vocal, which is female-fronted and has a weight to it. This is a powerhouse sort of vocalist that isn't afraid to belt out with a little passion. There's a soulfulness, as I mentioned earlier, to the performance, and that works super well with the heaviness and grit of the song itself.
There's another vocal track as well, and that's where the post-rock stuff comes in.
The post-rock is a male vocal, and he gets in there and screams certain lines, adding this little hint of aggression in the song's underbelly, which is brilliant.
The song boasts a closed-fisted but cinematic rock effect, and I dig that almost ambient or spacious sort of undertone that it implies.
It's not this vast song. It's right in your face, but the vastness is implied somehow.
I'm not exactly sure how they pull that off, but it works incredibly.
If you want to get a better grip on the lyrics, watch the music video for the track because it serves more like a lyric video, but is inventive and has a similar sort of edginess that the song boasts.
This was amazing, and I would definitely be paying attention to PTRNS from here on out, especially after listening to this track.
I'm hoping they have some new material for us in the coming months because I want more.
Check this track out right now.
