fuvk – what is the purpose of your visit? Review

What does fuvk sound like?

Sad, introspective and shy bedroom pop.

The review of ‘what is the purpose of your visit?’ by fuvk

Continuing their brand of acoustic ladden sad bedroom pop fuvk returns with ‘what is the purpose of your visit?’ It is an incredibly tight 12-minute EP of five tracks that leans into modern-day anxiety, smooth acoustic or electro-acoustic melodies and an inherent emptiness and cynicism, Each song is like a diary entry as the lyrics come with a date attached. Intimate, groove rich and melancholy – this is accessible bedroom pop at its finest.

‘Handlebars’ kicks us off with a short juxtaposition of helping a friend out in hospital one year to having them help you out another year. The noodle guitars and soft drum machines make for a teenage angst fierce calm sound as fuvk’s soft voice soothes the lyrics like good pill medicines. Being surprised and cynical is a theme across the EP as ‘therapy’ has one of my favourite lyrics I’ve heard in ages:

“saw a new therapist today, she told me I’m not suffering from anything my insurance would pay for”

fuvk – therapy

Despite this, the guitar riffs, tight drums and layered vocals are somewhat uptempo. It is something fuvk does exceptionally well – pairing a hard truth with a knowing wink and a riff that slaps. ‘amateur hour’ is a great example of this. The fast-paced electro-acoustic guitar chords are approachable and mini riffs embellish around the main melody like rockabilly folk dances. fuck’s vocals are layered but glitching out through various effects that you don’t initially pick up on. Its simple, direct approach hides a lot of clever production.

‘bootleg aphrodite’ is the closest to a full rock band sound fuvk brings on the EP. In many ways, I’m reminded of a softer Illuminati Hotties both in sound and lyrical themes. The band sounds big but the voice sounds small and so the music evokes an overwhelming sensation. The only track where the vocals sound full is on the closing track ‘July’ where both bass guitar and lower vocal layering fill out the sound. It’s a glittery guitar noodle soup that closes the album out in a gauzy haze of optimism. The sole romantic track that also romanticises guilt and shame, it is a bitter-sweet end fitting of a fuvk record.

If anyone wanted an audio sample of what sad indie pop and more specifically sad bedroom pop sounds like – fuvk would be the poster child for it. The short, snappy songs are lean with no filler whilst delivering moments in time like teardrops of regret. fuvk releases these short EPs often and it is great to see that the quality is consistent throughout. Keeping the songs lean and subtly mean is helping fuvk carve out an underground career as a bedroom pop favourite.

Recommended track: therapy

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