PURE LOVE

Today the band Pure Love announced that they were going on ‘indefinite hiatus’ and the news has hit me hard. Not many people had even heard of Pure Love, they were a very small band that in their brief two years as a band achieved very little. They played a handful of small tours in the UK and released one album ‘Anthems’ last year. When Frank Carter announced in 2011 that he was leaving his band Gallows to focus on his new project, a straightforward rock and roll band, the music world went crazy for this change of direction and anticipated great things for the duo. Great things did not come and before the band had even started, the music press and fans alike turned the other way and paid no attention. However away from the glare contemporary music, Pure Love were having a ball, and putting on a party wherever they went, a small circle of die hard fans emerged at every show, forever a smile on everyone’s face, the greatest show on earth that nobody came to.

2011 was the worst time of my life, after coming out of a four year relationship I was desperately lonely, in pain and suffering an all encompassing depression I had never before experienced. Before Pure Love had even played a show or even released a single note of music I was hooked. All there was, was a logo, the words Pure Love, which I clung to hoping the esoteric shape alone would bring some salvation. The band literally came into existence as my personal situation became so desperate, as if by some orchestration of fate, the band were there to get back on my feet. Months I waited for music to be released, all in vain, the band were silent and mysterious, yet a growing curiosity was following them as fans and critics alike awaited this new sound. None were to expect the sound that would come. Frank Carter, having come from the UK hardcore scene, his last release was the blacker than black ‘Grey Britain’ released in 2009, no one could expect the expediential shift in sound, tone and message. Gone were the days of anger and despair, love was on its way.

Pure Love played their first gig on Valentines Day 2012 at Bush Hall in London. The first Valentines I’d had to endure since my break up, battered, bruised, alone and hurting I dragged myself to London on the day of love, to see a band preaching love and happiness when I felt so utterly alone and hunchbacked I’d rather still be listening to ‘Black Heart Queen’. Alas, I turned up to the most romantic venue in London to witness one of the greatest rock and roll rebirths in history. It was as if I was the only one there, and the message that I so desperately needed to hear was only for me, the band appeared onstage and as soon as the first note of ‘She’ was played it washed away all feelings of anger and sadness, resentment and bitterness that had previously coursed through my every vein. Instead, almost immediately I was alleviated. I finally had something to cling to; love, positivity, music, art, hope, rock and roll! I had entered a new chapter in my life and Pure Love were the narrator documenting each and every day.

In Summer 2012 I met my girl, and once again it was Pure Love that became such a huge part of that blossoming romance. I saw the band again at Leeds Festival, one of the best festival shows I’ve ever seen, and Burning Love instantly became our song. Somehow this band that nobody gave a fuck about had become to mean everything to me. Their music had reconnected me to my former positive, passionate self, steered me away from a person I had become who had no bearing on who I truly am. Throughout 2013 I saw the band twice more, in February in Cambridge, possibly the best show I’ve ever been to, packed inside a one hundred capacity venue, the fifty kids who cared so much for a band the masses had already declared irrelevant, we sang and danced, and surfed on inflatables until our lungs gave out. Caught up in the spirit of it all, I took to the stage and shared the microphone with Mr. Carter and serenaded my girl with our song ‘Burning Love’. Who would of thought true romance could be achieved at a rock and roll show? The bands own trajectory charted my rise from despair and heartache, to happy, positive old me again, a perspective found, due to the band, the message and their songs.

When the band released their first single ‘Bury my Bones’ there was an instant wave of excitement and anticipation throughout the music press and word on the street. But in today’s age of disposable Internet fads, where bands are discarded hourly and have a life expectancy of two months, Pure Love’s buzz in the music world lasted all but days. The first tours were well attended and documented but after that the bubble burst, the album dropped and so were the band, and before the band had even started everyone had left.

But what they missed was monumental. The greatest rock and roll shows of the century and a spirit and sense of community that had too long been absent from live music. Nowadays when you go to see a band, you pay extortionate prices to see the band you love stand on stage like zombies, take your cash and give nothing back. Pure Love however brought the party to you, every night they played in the crowd, not just Frank and Jim, but the drummer too. Every single show was a riot and a party, not a single person left without a smile on their face, the divide between band and audience had been entirely abolished, no egos, all were here to have a great night. Not just another faux sentiment of living for the moment, when really you’re missing the show posting it on Instagram. A Pure Love show was a tangible rock and roll show that stayed with you for days, and you experienced every second of it.

Their album ‘Anthems’ was ignored, sold poorly, never promoted or marketed and will inevitably be archived under ‘one hit wonders’. Yet it was a great rock album, packed full of hits had they ever been given the airplay. In an age where chart positions are bought by corporate moguls, and never reflect the people’s honest opinion, how could 'Anthems' ever stand a chance? Songs like ‘Anthem’, ‘Beach of Diamonds’, ‘Burning Love’ and ‘Handsome Devils Club’ are such great rock songs, they deserve to be heard and played in venues bigger than the Portland Arms.

The news that Pure Love have called it a day saddens me deeply, mostly because nobody can understand what they meant, because nobody cared in the first place. Nobody cares about real music anymore. It’s sad because it speaks volumes for the state of music in 2014. A band like Pure Love playing authentic rock and roll and putting their blood, sweat and tears into it every night, should matter and be able to experience longevity. Yet the world would rather obsess over glitter lacquered pop garbage and dance music Armageddon than experience real music, with a real message played by real people. In the grand scheme of things Pure Love breaking up really doesn’t matter, but to me it signifies so much more, it confirms the death of rock n roll, and without that we are all doomed.