What's the distinction between the two? I'm bad at describing music types but I'll try. Love Parade is more uncut technically dishing out excellent jingle-twang fare. Not all of which are classics but certainly there are charming pop nuggets in the likes of "Lazy Days", "Life", "Guilt Chest", "All God's Children", & my two all-time Love Parade faves "Sad As Sunday" & "Out To Sea" (!!!).
Pure was a slightly more polished reincarnation of the Love Parade. After "Aspidistra", it transformed into a slightly more dense-sounding outfit (layered guitar sound, wah-wah etc) at the time of "Whirlpool" but nevertheless was still ace. Eva Luna carried on where Pure left off with the subsequent singles "Kick Out (At The Things You Hate)" & "Tangle". But by the time of "Loverstay", there was more or less a reverse in direction and the songs on it consists of acoustic-based pop gems. In the same vein, the more elaborate "Ghost of You" EP featuring an excellent Burt Bacharach cover in "Trains & Boats & Planes".
I love Pure/Eva Luna as much as the Love Parade. I highly recommend all the Eva Luna singles which I believe are still available, plus the Por Supuesto (Japan) Pure/Eva Luna CD (5 tracks, 2 B-sides & 1 track each from the Birth of the True, Noise & the Melodies and Turntable Friend's "Calling At Duke St" compilation albums) which is however long-deleted. Similarly, the Pure 7" and the Love Parade 7"s/flexis are hard to come by. Graeme has this knack for knitting euphonious pop melodies that flow so seamlessly smooth. I dig scribers like him that pen softie lines like "If you'd be my shelter, swear I'll never be your storm." And he's blessed with a warm endearing voice too. Since the "Ghost of You" EP, I've not been keeping up though.
Vernon Lee KY for the indiepop-list in October 1998
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