On the heels of his first solo release, Daniel Pujol rocks Cake Shop Wednesday night, June 15, on New York’s Lower East Side.
Pujol emerged from the red hot Nashville rock scene in recent years, playing in numerous groups, including the punk band MEEMAW. After releasing 7” records for various labels such as Infinity Cat, Third Man, and Turbo Time Records, he’s stashed enough cuts away for his first full-length, out today, X File on Main St.
Pujol’s sound is somewhat consistent with much of the country-infused garage rock coming out of Nashville these days. Speaking on that scene, Pujol himself told New York Press earlier this year, “a lot of the acts in Nashville have worked together or been in each other’s bands…so we all tend to write within these certain aesthetic boundaries and borrow from each other.”
Pujol, however, seems more preoccupied with pop structures than simply ringing out the thick distortion commonly ascribed to lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll. His recent work often benefits from an R & B or pop backbeat, topped off with fiery guitar and a voice to match. Singles “How High” and “Black Rabbit” show that Pujol is as much a songwriter as he is an axe wielder.
Unsurprisingly, X File, features many of Pujol’s Nashville musical associates. Wez Taylor, who played in MEEMAW with Pujol and now in Natural Dead, picks up the bass on this record. D. Watusi frontman Dillon Watson and the man behind the Nashville’s Dead blog (and Freakin’ Weekend festival), Ben Todd, also make appearances.
Catch Pujol Wednesday at Cake Shop, sandwiched between sets with opener Secret Cities and Ava Luna.
