Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, The Penitent Man released their self-titled debut back in March, and followed up this Fall with a vinyl edition through Desert Records. The have-blues-will-share five-piece offer four tracks that run a total 34 minutes, so long enough to be considered an album if it matters anymore — it fits on a 12″, so there — and their vibe is no less shadowy than their new video for “Purple Kiss,” as guitarists Steven “That’s with a ‘V'” King and Phil Gallegos lead (and riff) the way through a Americana-tinged, weighted blues rock vibe, the janga-janga-janga chug of “Purple Kiss” actually something of an anomaly on the outing for its more upbeat motion.

At 5:43, “Purple Kiss” is the shortest of the inclusions on The Penitent Man‘s The Penitent Man, and it mostly matters because how the band — King and Gallegos on guitar, Ethen Garrido on bass, Chris Garrido on drums and Allan Davidson on vocals — use the rest of their time. Beginning with the longest cut (immediate points) in the 10:46 “The Devil was Christ,” they bring moody barroom spirit and country blues-inflected heavy, building to a volume surge across the first six-plus minutes ahead of a drop to the bassline that leads into a tent-revival jam, Davidson taking full advantage of the opportunity to testify. While spacious, the track is no less catchy for that in its leaning on the title line, and though “Purple Kiss” is more straight-ahead structurally, it holds much of the same vibe in place. No doubt that’s why they thought it’d make a good video. Fair enough.

The dynamic continues to flesh out on side B with “Stone” (8:44) and “Buffalo” (9:36) bridging high desert landscapes with stonerized drawl, the former biding its time until the breakout can ignite a little funk-twang while “Buffalo” meets slide guitar and vocals with a fervent thud and crash, becoming a highlight for not only its eventual rolling payoff, but the gone-ramblin’ trip it takes getting there, as well as the acoustic finish that speaks to a burgeoning interest in arrangement depth that will only continue to serve the band well. Consider mid-period Wovenhand if you’re wondering what I’m talking about.

The Penitent Man have already given the self-titled a companion live outing in Live at Pale Horse Sound (also on Desert Records), and with the video behind them, will no doubt stare once more into the bluesy abyss and work on their next record — no substitute for momentum, and so on. If you’ve not yet caught wind of their met-at-the-crossroads stylizations, “Purple Kiss” indeed gives a sample of what they’re all about. The clip for it is below, followed by a few words from Davidson, as well as the stream of the entire record.

Please enjoy:

The Penitent Man, “Purple Kiss” official video premiere

Allan Davidson on “Purple Kiss”:

“The ‘Purple Kiss’ video was filmed in the early Fall of 2020 with Greg Downs of Pale Horse Sound in Sugarhouse, UT. When we began to contemplate a music video we immediately thought of ‘Purple Kiss.’ We felt it was a good representation of the energy and vibe that we were trying to convey with this album. We felt that as artists we would prefer that our music (coupled with some pretty cool filming techniques) take the forefront of our video more than us as players. I guess we prefer the shadows and let our music do the talking.”

The Penitent Man are:
Allan Davidson – Vocals
Chris Garrido – Drums
Steven King – Guitar
Phil Gallegos – Guitar
Ethan Garrido – Bass

The Penitent Man, The Penitent Man (2020)

The Penitent Man on Thee Facebooks

The Penitent Man on Instagram

The Penitent Man on Bandcamp

Desert Records on Thee Facebooks

Desert Records on Bandcamp

Desert Records BigCartel store

Tags: Desert Records, Salt Lake City, self-titled, The Penitent Man, The Penitent Man Self-titled, Utah

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2020 at 9:46 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.