Nothin' rude about Pretty Rude's pretty excellent debut.

Pretty Rude photo by Thomas Palko

Opening with a chunky and lurching riffy rhythm, with a melody that acts as a winch drawing you steadily into the maelstrom, and then slathering on the Queen-like harmonies, Pretty Rude's full-length debut Ripe gets off to a ripping start. The grandiose opening immediately locks into a series of sturdily built tunes built on solid grooves and so, so many pleasantly chunky guitar riffs chugging effortlessly along. 

Pretty Rude is just a duo, powered by James Palko and Matt Cook, but Ripe is a big ol' band album, sounding like a painstaking attempt to merge the group's power with their obvious deep love of accessible melodies, to create a mix that is, well, just right!

It's a heavy rock and/or roll record that balances its relentless rawkin' energy with bursts of lush layers of harmonies, and it manages to complete that equation flawlessly through the discs brisk run through 8 tracks. Dig the tunes below and preorder or pick up the whole thing when it comes out on May 16. And don't worry about these songs ever aging poorly, they're guaranteed to always be perfectly ... ripe.*

*So, so, so sorry. I simply couldn't resist.