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    Indie folk rock fans should be on the lookout for this sophomore effort from Chris Pureka entitled Driving North. A frequent act on stages from around the Northeast, Pureka displays her growth as a musician and maturity as a songwriter on her latest record.
       In a world full of wannabe "chick singers with a guitar," Pureka stands out with her hardy vocals backed by her sturdy strumming. This album is one of those records you pop in the stereo when you want to reflect, revel, or ruminate over a love lost - on or off your terms.
      This record just oozes with passion. Break out the liner notes to pull a few good lines for your next blaze of break-up correspondences. In fact most of the tracks on Driving North will give you the fodder you need. The best lines from "Cynical" are "you don't deserve the satisfaction of being the one who pushed me over the edge... well now I find it hard to believe you don't have a thing to say to me, you don't write, you don't call, you're just getting cruel and we're both getting petty." Or try out this line from "Afterall": "and if you thought she'd listen you would tell her one more time how you'd bargain with the devil just to get her off your mind."
      Pureka uses metaphors like they are her J-O-B. Her tracks use silos as secret storage, late night wanderings as journeys toward reconnection, long drives as a way to flee from a lover's flack. The lyrics document her hurt - her voice, tone, and music display her love.
       This is very "Difranco-Dilate" but with an edge of hope. Pick this album up to support quality local music. Pick this album up for that inevitable breakup after the fluff and fun. Pick this album up if you look to music to soothe the soul.
       For indie rock-folk fans of Ryan Adams, Damien Rice, Pamela Means, Ani Difranco, Melissa Etheridge, this album plays outside your window, catching your ear.
       Some of you might have caught Pureka at one of her shows at 135 Pearl or at the local Club Metronome in Burlington. She'll be here again on October 1 so you can check out the irreplaceable effect of a live folk vibe Pureka folks it up in Burlington at 135 Pearl on with Montréal's Ember Swift (a righteous indie-folk rock diva).

Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak dj's, co-directs Outright Vermont, and has a few other things going in her "spare" time.