1.1. WE'LL NEVER BE A PART OF IT
1.2. GOING DARK
1.3. INSERT HEART HERE
1.4. PHOTOGRAPH
1.5. NEW FRIENDS
1.6. PARAMOUNT
1.7. DIAMOND RINGS
1.8. PALMS TO THE PINES
1.9. GOLDY
1.10. ROYAL DELUXE

There is no better introduction to The Pullmen's newest album than the opening lyric from the first song: "Look out, we're going for your throat now." Only five years have passed since the four friends who make up The Pullmen first attempted to write a song together, and their third release, Going Dark, is a mighty testament to the band's personal and musical evolution.

Anchored in punk rock with a folky, singer-songwriter sensibility, The Pullmen's first two records were hard-hitting exposés of its boozy, coastal Southern California swagger : The Western Score, a rootsy concept album with a love-crazed protagonist ; and Pine Ridge, a quick and dirty last call for hard-partying blue collar ragers.

With Going Dark, a stronger, wiser, meaner, and ultimately, better band emerges. Elements of pure rock'n'roll a la The Kinks and lo-fi garage that recalls The Strokes are seamlessly folded into The Pullmen's Western thrash core with a pop flourish suggestive of The Jam, resulting in more dimension but no less grit.

Like landscapes shaped by the unforgiving force of time, the best progressions are the natural ones, and the greatest albums are forged with the grime and glory of real life, the grip of loss and gain, the revelation of release.

This is one of those albums.