Pure Love
Anthems
Release Date: Feb 5, 2013
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Punk Revival
Record label: Mercury
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Album Review: Anthems by Pure Love
Fairly Good, Based on 7 Critics
Based on rating 4.5/5
Review Summary: Is Love all you need?Frank Carter’s decision to leave Gallows and form Pure Love was enough to cause a mini-meltdown within various internet territories. The usual, tired and tepid cries of “SELL OUT!” followed the news. In an ironic twist, fans of Gallows, who for the most part probably pride themselves on their tolerance of the new and different, tried to crush Carter under the weight of their oh-so-ferocious internet commentary for trying something…new and different.
Based on rating 4/5
Supergroups are tricky. If a group of previously established musicians come together and play music not too far removed from their original bands, fans will inevitably ask "What's the point?" On the other hand, if such a band forms and opts to try something new, they risk alienating that very same fanbase. Pure Love, consisting of former Gallows shouter Frank Carter and ex-Hope Conspiracy/Suicide File guitarist Jim Carroll, have gone with the latter approach, and as such, fans of the duo's previous bands hoping for a blistering hardcore punk assault will surely be disappointed.
Based on rating 7/10
The aptly titled Anthems, the debut album from newly minted English/American rockers Pure Love (ex-Gallows frontman Frank Carter and ex-Hope Conspiracy guitarist Jim Carroll), cares little about its own past. A complete overhaul, both musically and lyrically, this is what happens when two emerging torchbearers of 21st century hardcore punk decide to make a mainstream rock album. Falling somewhere between the fat, compressed pop-metal of Andrew W.K.
Based on rating 7/10
Here's a sentence you probably didn't see coming: the debut Pure Love album -featuring the rabid, head-bleeding former Gallows frontman Frank Carter - sounds like Shed Seven. No, really. And what’s even weirder - it works surprisingly well. When Carter walked out on his band and teamed up with Jim Carroll from the equally hardcore Hope Conspiracy, no-one knew quite what was coming next.
Based on rating 6/10
Anthems, the debut LP by English-American rock duo Pure Love, exudes a lot of modesty, energy, and honesty. A powerful blend of British charm and stateside bluntness, the record is full of tight performances, engaging vocals, and a sufficient amount of internal variety. Unfortunately, when assessed externally (within the genre and recent music scene), it really doesn’t offer anything special.
Based on rating 0.5/5
There’s something kind of ‘grown up’ about Frank Carter leaving his angry old band, Gallows, to form a less angry new band, Pure Love, with ex-Hope Conspiracy guitarist Jim Carroll. It’s “the band I’ve always wanted to be in”, Carter told NME last year. But WHY, Frank? It’s a good question, and one that he answers on the lead single from ‘Anthems’, ‘Bury My Bones’: “I’m so sick of singing about hate/It’s never gonna make a change”.
Opinion: Very Good
Former Gallows singer unleashes his inner arena-rock beast. Ben Myers 2013 As frontman for Home Counties hardcore punk platoon Gallows, Frank Carter rarely left the stage satisfied unless he had accrued new injuries or fresh tattoos at the very least. A decimated venue and a riot: even better. But interviews suggested a troubled soul beneath the singer’s nihilist armour and he left Gallows in July 2011, jaded and dissatisfied with the genre.
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