Purple Hill - Beechnut St.

By: David Ball

Purple Hill
Beechnut St.

(Indie)

SOUNDS LIKE: Garage rock and spacey folk served with a side of falsetto.

WHY/WHY NOT: A lot has changed since 2005, when the delightfully bent Toronto-based singer-songwriter Owen Marchildon first unveiled Purple Hill, his cosmic-country and experimental folk-rock project. Since his hard rock group From Fiction split-up, he has released another Purple Hill album, joined the space-rock outfit Rough Skeletons and is currently working on a solo album. On top of it all, Marchildon still managed to write eleven new songs for a third Purple Hill studio effort, and Beechnut St. is arguably one of the best indie releases of the year.

The record finds Purple Hill more or less replacing past country and acoustic folk underpinnings with some great roots rock doused with a whole lot of weirdness. Marchildon’s hilariously perverse lyrics—"The fat people in family restaurants, with piss stains on their pants"—"and eccentric vocal range are acquired tastes: when he’s not channeling Lou Reed or becoming a breathy tormented seducer, Marchildon sings in a slightly mad falsetto. "A Very Explosive Toilet" is a terrific VU-inspired garage rocker enhanced by the hysterical "Up in my face" falsetto chorus. His high-octave delivery and cheerful chiming guitar fills on "Booze Baby" only add to its subversive brilliance. "Hey There Blockhead" is wondrous dream pop, a side Purple Hill hasn’t entirely abandoned and hopefully never will.

Video: "Pretty Face" by Purple Hill