Rock tropes form the language that Philadelphia’s Purling Hiss speaks, and they’ve been fluent for a while. Most of their songs cook up repetitive riffs, three-chord melodies, and simple lyrics sung in both impassioned shouts and cool monotones. At his best, frontman and songwriter Mike Polizze—who began Purling Hiss as a solo project—simultaneously embraces, tweaks, and subverts all kinds of vintage garage, punk, and grunge moves. When his band hits that sweet spot, you feel like you’ve heard all this stuff before, but somehow not exactly like this.
There’s not much subversion on High Bias, Purling Hiss’s sixth album. Their music has always exuded a retro aura, but this is their most classic-rock record so far. In a few instances, it sounds like the band is role-playing: take the convincing Ramones costumes they don in “Get Your Way,” with Polizze stoically singing about “the rock‘n’roll boogie woogie twist and shout.” But even at their most homage-heavy, Purling Hiss muster enough distinctive personality to evade mimicry. And what High Bias lacks in surprise, it makes up for in hooks.
During the album’s best stretches, the hooks seem to never stop. The soaring “Fever” and the revving “Ostinato Musik” feel spacious enough to drive an 18-wheeler through, while the acoustic-tinted “Follow You Around” evokes a ’60s nugget filtered through stoner vibes (and, again, Ramones nostalgia). Hints of the ’90s surface in the hard-grunge riffs of “3000 AD,” delivered with conviction rather than slack distance. In fact, Polizze’s devotion to his material is stronger than ever on High Bias. He’s always been assured and committed, but here he’s settled fully into his skill set, like a craftsman whose easy mastery hides the years of work it took to get there.
High Bias does have its share of sweat, though. Hard-cranked tunes like “Notion Sickness” and “Pulsations” speed and blast like motorcycles stuck above 65. The strain in those tracks can be exhausting, but the sturdiness is impressive, especially in Polizze’s brief but combustive solos. The same goes for “Everybody in the USA,” which engages in another rock trope: the extended, album-ending jam, culminating in six minutes of instrumental amp-burning. That track might test the patience of anyone not already inclined towards Purling Hiss’s well-versed rock devotion, but if you’re happy to ride some riffs into the sunset, High Bias is a worthwhile trip.
