PULLEY
Together Again For The First Time (Epitaph)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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Here it is. The fourth Pully album, and the third time I've said "their best one yet." It's been two years since their third, self titled album. I lost track of lead singer Scott Radinsky's professional baseball career when he left the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the '98 season, but I do know that he's since pitched in St. Louis and Cleveland, and Pulley's an LA band. Simple logic says that could lead to a two year layoff. But then again, you'd think it would also lead to a sloppier band, especially when one of the guitarists splits in the interim. Instead of replacing Jim Cherry, the band decided to go as a power trio behind Radninsky, who happens to be a powerful vocalist, so it's a good formula.

Pulley's songs have evolved noticeably with each album, from unfocused power-punk with clear potential to what we have on Together Again, which is a collection of 13 songs that are so well structured that you slide right into the hooks, pound air guitars against your will, and remember choruses after one listen. "Leather Face" has a hook that is dripping with all the power they conjured on the first album, only focused to a fine point so that it serves the songs rather than overpowers it. And if the hooks in songs like "History Repeats Itself," "Hooray For Me," "The Ocean Song" and "In Search Of" are so catchy that you can't shake them from your mind, don't go calling them pop-punk. This isn't Blink Day here. There's still a natural edge in their sound that keeps it just out of that range and a sincerity that won't allow mistaken identity. Yes, they've learned the craft of songwriting well, but there are still roots in the Descendents' school of punk rock that keep this real.

I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of people about this band over the last six years, and the conventional wisdom is that they just need some visibility. They have everything else in place; talent, hooks, chops, and sincerity. I thought the last album was going to do it. If this one doesn't, it'll be a shame.

© 2001 - DJ Johnson