PVRIS are set to release their debut album White Noise on November 4th through Rise Records. This record begins a new chapter for the band after undergoing significant change in the past year to get to this point. The band previously functioned under the name PARIS, releasing a self-titled EP, which remains their only other record to date. In mid-2013, the band made a statement via Facebook revealing that “due to some legal issues we had to change the spelling of our name to PVRIS”. The first single under new moniker PVRIS, entitled “St. Patrick”, showed that the name was not all that had changed for this female-fronted rock trio from Lowell, Massachusetts.
Where PARIS was an alternative-rock band playing up-tempo, heavy rock songs, PVRIS’ “St. Patrick” is more commercial in sound. A simplistic song-structure and electronic effects have replaced the heavy musicality and dynamic changes, which sets the song up perfectly for mainstream audiences. In an interview for idobi Radio, singer Lyndsey Gunnulfsen explained the change in the band’s direction: “we went through the demos to pick what we wanted to put on the record, we were like, you know what? We should just do all these crazy pop ones, ‘cause they’re better songs.”
It isn’t the first time that a female fronted rock band has traded its alternative roots for a commercial sound. Hey Monday singer Cassadee Pope became an overnight success after she was crowned the winner of TV music show The Voice and Paramore have gone from strength to strength since switching to mainstream pop songs. The change in sound certainly attracted the attention of Rise Records, who signed the band in June 2014. It’s an interesting move for the label, known mainly for their support of bands in the post-hardcore and metal-core scenes. The move also surprised the band, as Gunnulfsen explains: “we’re super surprised cause like, nothing against the Rise community, but it’s typically heavier… and it’s not like that. A lot of comments were like, ‘Oh, I don’t usually like this stuff, but this is cool.’ So it’s weird that we’re winning over a bunch of kids that didn’t think they would like this kind of stuff.” Come November 4th, fans new and old alike will be able to hear for themselves whether the band’s move towards the pop end of the rock spectrum wins them over, when White Noise is released.