Pullo – Common Wine

Adapting the spirit of post-punk, darkwave, gothic rock, and electronic body music

The Medan post-punk Pullo has just released their first full-length album, Common Wine. The album produced by Zaini Vila contains twelve songs adapting the spirit of post-punk, darkwave, gothic rock, and electronic body music. Common Wine was released by Jakarta-based record label Ordo Nocturno.

Pullo, which was founded in 2016, now consists of Rally Jachmoon (vocals), Gavin Siregar (drums), Valdi Fahrizi (guitar), Faiz Fadhilah (guitar), and Ranggi Ramadhan (bass). They worked on Common Wine for around two years, splitting the process at two recording studios in Medan; Showbox, Brokenstrings, and Jakarta’s Noise Lab Studio. In addition to album creation, Pullo involved several guest musicians, such as Aul Daytona (Pijar), Ais Marciano, Andini CL, and Haryo Widi (Tarrkam).

Common Wine starts with a slow-paced triplet entitled “Adam,” “Truthwise,” and “Common Wine.” The three of them drove dark and eerie, where the clarity of the guitar riffs became its command. “The mixing process of this album isn’t as rough as in the previous EPs,” explained the band. “The vocals are lower for a more mature feel. The guitar and bass become more complicated. Some songs have a different atmosphere because of the piano and synthesizer stuffing.”

The album continues with a triplet of faster tempo; “Angel of Lies,” “Tenebrous,” and “Agony.” The atmosphere also transformed. It is covered with a dancing beat as well as cold anger. At this point, the lyrics in Common Wine are written implicitly where the band explains, “The lyrics were written quite spontaneously, only done for about 10-15 minutes,” they said. “Some songs were written while recording other instruments. So, this album contains random stories and fiction that came to mind during that short period.”

Entering the following track is “Warmest Heart,” a collaboration with J. Alfredo or better known through his moniker Romantic Echoes. It feels warmer, tells a story with a straightforward style, and has a sweet and simple touch. “Warmest Heart” seems to become an oasis in the album before Pullo wrapped it up with a triplet containing previously released songs; “Lonesome,” “Ride,” and “Astle Rune.” The last title has an original version of Pullo, a remix of Sunmantra as an electronic trio from Jakarta, and a re-composition from producer Aditya Permana, who is also a Jakarta-based DJ.

Pullo has been productive for over six years, and Common Wine is their third collection. They released the short album Age of New Life in 2017 and A Dark Belief in 2019, which marked the first time they worked together with the Ordo Nocturno.