PURITY RING – MOHAWK AUSTIN,TX – (SHOW REVIEW)
A line snaked around the corner of Red River and 10th St. last Tuesday night, teeming with an eclectic mix of Austinites, all gathered in anticipation of the most unique acts in recent memory. Newcomers, futuristic, pop duo, Purity Ring, were due to make their headliner Austin debut later that night,and hype was not in short supply. How had two Canadians gone from simple anonymity, to selling out almost every date on their European/North American tour? And more importantly, how did they do it in under 18 months?
The answer lies, not in record labels, A&R reps, radio play, or a gimmicky Youtube video; but rather the collective support of influential Indie blogs ( i.e. Pitchfork, The Guardian, The Fader), that allow bands like Purity Ring to reach an audience without any intentional marketing. Vocalist, Megan James, and master beat maker, Corin Roddick , collaborated for their first track “Ungirthed” in early 2011. They were surprised by the buzz the rough cut generated on sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp, and decided that this project might become a ‘thing’. Nearly a year later, Purity Ring has completed their first European tour in support of their debut album Shrines, and have continued through North America, selling out shows and creating an enormous amount of hype in the process.
Atop the terrace at Mohawk, watching Young Magic launch into a powerful opening set, I realized this venue had never appeared so packed. The venue had pushed back the set times an hour so the crowd, which was predominantly young hipsterish types, was boozy and boisterous by the time Purity Ring got onstage. Megan, who designs the band’s apparel, and Matt, who runs the lightshow and audio effects simultaneously, developed a vision for Purity Ring that they execute onstage with precision.
Launching into their first two songs “Amenamy” and “Crawlersout”, the stage and floor exploded with light gradients and effects that set an ethereal mood, even though the sound seemed a bit off. It was the third song “Belispeak” in which the lights, sound, and Megan’s angelic voice came together to cajole the claustrophobic crowd into dancingt that the concert took off.
Running through hits like “Lofticries” and “Obedear”, Purity Ring lured their audience into a world of dichotomy, featuring dark calculated beats that are complemented with the effeminate yet powerful, vocals of the pint-sized force of nature, Megan James. Between the intricate onstage art display, fog machine, and blaring lightshow, it wasn’t hard to fall into a trance during the 45-minute set., with the only hiccup being a dreadful cover of Souljaboy’s “Grammy” that was out of place and baffling,
Purity Ring finished their set with crowd favorites “Ungirthed” and the infectious “Fineshrine”, leaving the crowd clamoring for more songs, which they unfortunately do not possess. With only 11 songs on their debut album, this is a good problem to have. Purity Ring has accomplished in their first, 38-minute debut album, what most bands fail to achieve in their whole careers. As Matt and Megan cleared their set by themselves, it is easy to see that Purity Ring’s vision is as ambitious and well thought out as their music.
