The Pucketts

The Pucketts Blood Oath: Debut Indie Album in Review

November 1991 must have been a special moment for the lovelorn duo of ‘The Pucketts’ in their debut EP ‘Blood Oath.’ The date titles the closing track of the song, a nearly a capella piece of whimsical beauty. It displays the songstress at a peaking vulnerability mixed with utmost confidence, a balance very few singers can properly maintain. On one hand, the sullen effort is debased and slightly affluent; the other it is seductively impactful and quite gorgeous. With no melody outside the vocals, the song is even more recurrent.

The Pucketts is a wife and husband duo, who recalls instant puppy-like groans from my own wife who thinks I should pick up a guitar and back her own upbeat voice. But this isn’t some silly idea. The Pucketts manage to inspire, and not only by their construct, but by the melodies and the music. See, tracks like ‘Berlin’ seem so simple in their design. A single rotating melody drives the song, as layered banjos and other such sounds compliment gracefully, adding a slight thickness to give it more substance without ever drowning out the voice or the main instrument. What we have are songs that seem so brilliantly simple, a smooth and intelligible calmness throughout the whole EP. The closing a capella takes this to the extreme, but the remaining tracks are transparently composed and elegantly lucid.

So when one hears that the married duo composed these songs in what seems like a cottage on the lake, you feel entranced and you relate to it. You impose their craft in yourself. I can pick up a guitar! I can sing a ditty with my wife and paint a lyrical landscape! ‘Polaris’ angelic and plain, but never boring. It’s folk, it’s indie, but it never faults into boring folk-indie rock mainstream hooks that seem to be far more poppy than they ever ought to be. The EP, though short as it is, is an unvarnished attempt at honest indie music, channeled through the obvious love of music and the obvious love in the lyrics. The fact that the duo is married (and we can only hope happily) is only the icing on the cake- the affirmation of a loyal listener.

‘Blood Oath’ is one long song to me, a shortened EP of five tracks that flow softly and blissfully. The album crescendos, however slight, with the strings in the title track. But this is a singular idea, a conceptual flash in the pan that recalls love and the wilderness.

The Pucketts and are fresh babies to the musical scene; having ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund this debut. What a way to begin. Their music remains an enchanting example of what emotions can procure when fame and fortune are not the final step. - The Noise Beneath the Apple

The track is an upbeat number, hopping along at a brisk pace. It has no hesitation to get to the enchanting ditty of a chorus, proving the band knows what they did right and are more than willing to show the listener immediately. When the song strips itself even further, we have a breakdown and the song’s highlight towards the last thirty seconds.
It’s a touching and beautiful number. If The Pucketts can keep their charisma and their optimistic synergy into the future, we may have another classy gem of a duo from the indie underworld of Chicago. If it isn’t something in the water, then it must be in the songs. - The Noise Beneath the Apple

Independently Dependent for B-Hybrid Dance was apparently motivated by consideration of the stifling pressures exerted on youth. ...A supporting quartet (including choreographer Brian Gillespie) reeled about as if reacting to the unsettling effects of a force field. The piece ended with group movement set to a striking a cappella track by American indie folk duo The Pucketts, for which thanks are due. - The Place.org

"The best songs on Blood Oath, the eponymous title track and I Will Carry You, have the kind of irrepressible hooks that have you humming them long after the music is gone. And Julie's smoky/sweet voice really shines on the a capella piece November '91—I've tried pretty hard to find another singer with similar qualities—there's no one else out there who makes a really fair comparison, and it's truly unusual to hear an original voice these days. Andrew's voice chimes in midway through the song and the vocal harmonies the two create here are pretty impressive." - Positive Feedback Online

The Pucketts' "songs are sincere and delivered with passion and in a VERY professional manner". - Gene Foley