Pure Intention

Reviews

Pure Intention Pure Intention CD

I would have never guessed that these guys were from Chicago. This has that pure punk’n’roll energy that you get from bands like ANTISEEN, HOOKERS, and HELLSTOMPER—the type of acts you can really only find south of the Mason-Dixon line. They’d fit like a glove with that whole Confederacy of Scum gang. Sloppy and raw, but powerful and catchy. The bassist has this interesting picking style where they scratch the strings on each downstroke. It’s a neat touch that adds a little more chaos onto this pile of madness. According to their socials, the band is currently on a hiatus. I hope they make a return soon, cuz this is good stuff!

Pure Intention Faults and Fallacies cassette

Chicago three-piece PURE INTENTION brings a high-energy jolt of punk-infused rock with their tape Faults and Fallacies, delivering six tracks that range from one to three minutes while channeling a strong Scando influence. It’s a pretty good time, but the tape loses momentum with “Fallacy,” which meanders a bit and incorporates George-fucking-W. Bush samples that I found more confusing than effective. Despite this, the tape is a spirited listen that made me feel like it would be hella fun to watch them play while throwing back some beers at a dive bar. The standout track, “No Control,” is a pedal-to-the-metal romp with fun gang vocals.

 

Pure Intention No S***! CD

First thing is the cover art—it’s a drawing of three dudes, presumably the band members, pissing on a wall. It reminded me of both the Punk Uprisings compilation and the first MASKED INTRUDER album. So going into this, I was prepared for some snotty, probably RAMONES-inspired pop punk. Well, I couldn’t have been more off-point with that assumption. Instead, what I found was what I guess I would classify as “grunge punk”? It’s rocking with heavy distortion, some rockabilly-ish elements, and what sounds like echo effects on the vocals. I imagine this is similar to what it would sound like if Bleach-era NIRVANA played SUPERSUCKERS songs. At first it was a little off-putting, but after repeated listens, it’s grown on me…a bit. Only five songs, so it doesn’t run the risk of wearing out its welcome, although I will say that if they scrapped the first song “Pure Intention” and the third song “George Jesterson” and instead put the remaining three songs on a 7”, I would be way more into this.