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Puppies in the Sun — Light Became Light
(Buh Records BR166, 2022, LP)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2022-10-19

Light Became Light Cover art

Puppies in the Sun is the duo of Alberto Cendra (synthesizers and electronics) and Cristóbal Pereira (drums), two childhood friends from Peru who perchance crossed paths in Barcelona a number of years ago, and are now based in Rotterdam. Like most duos they manage to maximize their sound so that the results seem much larger than that of two guys, built on explorative soundworlds and extended improvisation, over time developing into a powerful style that incorporates Cendra’s industrial-strength driving textures and noise with Pereira’s drum riffing into an engulfing, mindblowing experience. The duo preceeded Light Became Light, their first full length release, with a couple of EPs back in 2018, and the album has been by all accounts a quantum leap forward in their craft. Their style harnesses the power of noise-rock without the use of any guitars or bass, instead finding those snarly noise threads strictly within the vocabularies of synths and electronic effects. Spoken word samples are sometimes integrated into their textures, keeping things interesting, but their music would be equally impressive without that element. Their sound is at once minimalist, textural, organic, cosmic, and most of all spontaneous as it proceeds. The album features seven tracks that seem to exist in a constant state of evolution, with a sprawling eleven-minute closer at the end of side two titled “A Very Short Trip around a Supervoid,” which follows the four-minute title track. At times I am reminded of a show by YBO2 that I attended in San Francisco years ago, at other times I’m reminded by the edgier snarlier works of a young Richard Pinhas and Heldon, without the sequences. The intensity is such that one is tempted to crank it up to full volume, but even at that it remains quite listenable and completely immersive, I find myself wishing it lasted longer, but the limitations of the LP medium hold it back to around 40 minutes total. Plat it twice, three times, shuffle it up, whatever it takes; this is superb and thoroughly engaging.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Puppies in the Sun

More info
http://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/light-became-light

 

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