LP includes download code. Yip Man (of Scotland) aka singer-songwriter Al Nero returns with his sophomore effort, 'Pure Zen, Ken?' a pulsating grab-bag of razor-sharp riffs, edge-of-the-seat angles, deeply satisfying choruses and endless melodic and harmonic invention. Kicking off with the mockingly titled, 'Suffer More' a song with more life-affirming hooks in its minute-long intro than most would consider sufficient for an entire album, yet Nero tells us "everything I write's a joke" and feels his craft comprises nothing more than "just three chords and a melody". It's classic Yip Man, riffs everywhere; bright, shiny horns; gleeful bittersweet chorus - answering the old Huxley question (as to whether a happy artist can truly create anything of merit or worth) in deed rather than in thought. As a statement of intent, it provides a satirical cling film that seems to wrap the rest of the album tightly and with a sly coherence.
