Purr warms up NON-COMM’s Free at Noon crowd to kick off day two

With their sophomore album Who Is Afraid Of Blue out in a month’s time on Anti- Records, New York City five-piece Purr made a striking impression on early arrivers to day two of NON-COMM at today’s Free at Noon concert.

The band deals in low-key slow burners in the spirit of pre-millennial scenesters like The Clientele and Ida. Songs like the opening “To Be Better” whisper, build, and explode fervently, with co-songwriters Eliza Callahan and Jack Staffen trading off counterpoint vocals. The single “Guessing” is a lovely ballad reminiscent of UK troubadours Travis, while the set highlight “Drift” has the greatest pulse to it, soaring along to a big beat by drummer Max Freedberg and gorgeous harmonies reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac.

Wrapping the set was “The Natural,” a bouncy helping of piano-led pop in the vein of Aimee Mann, Elliott Smith, or late-era Beatles. Listen to the chilled-out performance above, check out photos below. Purr will be back on June 2nd to spend their album release day in Philly with a headlining show at MilkBoy. Details on that show can be found at WXPN’s Concerts and Events page.