I'll be honest, I was one of those start/stop riff lovers that gravitated towards songs like "Shut Off" on the Sugarless Puller debut album. I was somewhat put off at first by the melodic nature of the Closer Than You Think follow-up. It took longer to embrace the melody-dominated songs crafted by a songwriter's songwriter. This new album furthers the melodic direction of Closer... but I immediately gravitated towards these delicious hooks. Not sure if Puller has spent the time between releases writing these tunes, but they sure do sound like it! The vocals of Mike Lewis sound better than ever. We hear plenty of his tender side, and he doesn't press and strain as hard during the more dynamic moments. Tunes like "She's The Girl" show the rhythm section locked into a pristine groove that traverses between clean and distortion. Lyrically, I get the feeling that Lewis has a lot to say. Some brilliant lyrics are penned in "These Days," where he confesses: "Now I want to live like Paul, but I think like Thomas, but I'm more like Judas -- these days. And if Jesus loves His people, He'd tear down every steeple -- in this town these days." Wow! A writer that doesn't hold back! One can learn something or at least be provoked to thought from a man that makes such admissions: "So far, so good. So far to go. So much to lose. So much to know."
With not a dud to be found, I'd say this is easily Puller's best album. You can get the rock and roll hooks of Foo Fighters without all the sugary pop frosting; the passion and emotional punch of Stavesacre without the all out energy bursts.
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis 2001Reviewed by James"What's Mine At Twilight" is Puller's latest release from Tooth and Nail Records. Their first release on the label was the album "Sugarless" in 1995. Puller's frontman Mike Lewis was also in the 90's rock band For Love Not Lisa (Elektra Records) To be blunt, no thanks. Honestly, I would say that every time I pressed the play button, I found something else to complain about with this disk. While…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Michial FarmerPuller is one of those bands that I always wanted to get into, but never got around to it. I liked the two or three songs I heard on various samplers, and I even have a For Love Not Lisa album (The Lost Elephant), but I've never gotten around to buying a Puller record. What this means is that I can't compare What's Mine at Twilight to previous Puller albums -- it exists purely on its own merit…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Bert GanglModern rock artists Puller began their musical tenure during the early '90s in For Love Not Lisa, a band that started as a collaboration between vocalist Mike Lewis and guitarist Miles. After recruiting bassist Clint McBay and drummer Aaron Preston for a self-titled EP in 1992, the band landed a contract with Elektra Records. FLNL released their full-length debut, 1993's Merge, and toured with…Similar sounding releases
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