Band:	BlurCurve
Album:	Pluto & The Fool
Style:	Alternative rock, Alternative metal, Hard rock
Release date:	April 2023

01. Initiation
02. The Doubt
03. Circular Reasoning
04. Vainwaste
05. Experiment
06. Holy Alms

BlurCurve are the kind of band that one can argue over whether they are an alternative metal band or a heavy rock band, so it’s perhaps coincidental that they’ve named their new EP after Pluto, which caused arguments over whether it was a planet or a dwarf planet.

Minnesota’s BlurCurve have been around on-off for around two decades by now, but it’s not necessarily been the easiest journey thus far, as their 2015 self-titled debut remains their only full-length record (although at over 30 minutes in length, new EP Pluto & The Fool could conceivably have been classed as their sophomore LP). Since BlurCurve, the group have obtained a new singer in Alythia Scully, and the band’s punky alt rock sound has taken a turn for the heavier, grungier, and slightly more complex. Representing the end of six years of silence on the new music front following 2017’s single “Resist”, Pluto & The Fool is a chance to gauge just how much that sound has changed.

If the name “BlurCurve” is unfamiliar, you may not be alone; following Aarlon and Friends From Moon last year, they are the latest band I’ve opted to review after being contacted directly by the group, despite having never heard of them previously (hopefully me acknowledging this won’t lead to an onslaught of review requests). Despite what some may think, I’m not eager to roast underground bands (as a member of one myself, I can empathize with them), and thankfully Pluto & The Fool is good enough that I don’t need to, but BlurCurve are nevertheless still a work in progress.

Progress can be heard already, however; the production on Pluto & The Fool, while still having a slight DIY roughness to it, is a leaps-and-bounds improvement on the self-titled album. There’s even moments where those hints of roughness almost work in the record’s favour; near the end of “Initiation”, there’s a bit after the last chorus where the cymbals are a bit noisy and overbearing, but after a brief silent pause, the force when the band comes back in is quite satisfying. It’s not just on the production that Pluto & The Fool beats out BlurCurve; the style of the new record feels more coherent and focused, as the central metallic rock style remains consistent even as the band explore different influences, and Scully is a very good addition to the band.

Scully’s range is arguably the greatest strength of Pluto & The Fool, with “Circular Reasoning”, in my opinion the best song here, a good example; a typically understated yet soulful approach in the verses and choruses is then taken in a softer, more delicate direction with some self-harmonizing during the bridge, but in the section after, they let the full power of their voice loose to very good effect. Scully is the sole vocalist here, with the exception of a pre-chorus repeated segment in opening song “Initiation”; to be honest, this track is perhaps the one I find least enjoyable on the record, mainly because of an unnecessary distorted filter applied to the more aggressive singing in this pre-chorus (I’m not sure who exactly performs this). Given that this is, from what I can tell, the only track with multiple vocalists, I feel if it’s not going to be executed better than this, it makes sense to stick solely with Scully handling all singing.

Compositionally, most songs here conform to verse/chorus/bridge conventions, although a couple of them, such as “The Doubt” and “Circular Reasoning”, feature some effective elaboration in their closing stages that add a nice dynamic. The standard for much of the album is to have a soft verse going into a heavy chorus; I feel like there’s scope going forwards to mix things up on this front a bit more, as it does cause a slight sense of saminess to emerge. There is variety within the specific tone of the softer verses, though; the bass/drum atmospheric grooves in “Vainwaste” pleasantly remind me of Kylesa’s Spiral Shadow, while “Experiment” opts for a prolonged, almost melancholic alt rock verse. BlurCurve generally have the softer side of their sound sorted; I think they’re perhaps still feeling out how to be as interesting when they become heavier, as the semi-screamed chorus of “Experiment” is a bit unengaging, and results in a slight anti-climax at the end of this track when it comes back in following a nice build in tension and volume during the preceding bridge.

This is a nice EP overall; the work that the remaining band members from BlurCurve have put in to improve since that debut is obvious just from listening to it. I feel the band can still push how expansive and ambitious they are with their writing; “Initiation” in particular enters its bridge with the sense that it could go in a more explorative and engaging direction than it ultimately does. Still, the foundations are here; the riffs are fittingly rocking for alt rock, the more metallic and heavy moments work well, such as the storming conclusion of “Vainwaste”, and Scully has an ideal voice and range for this style. If they can sustain the trajectory they’ve plotted between BlurCurve and Pluto & The Fool, their next release could well be one to look out for.