Today, February 26, 2025, Brussels-based band Purrses drops the video for “Ride the Dragon,” the first single from their upcoming debut album Reality Fantasy, set to hit vinyl and digital on May 16 via JauneOrange, Rockerill Records, and Cheap Satanism.
The track is a hybrid of glam rock sheen and pop bite, wrapped in a video that’s equal parts gothic unease and cartoonish swagger.
Fronted by Laura Ruggiero, Purrses has been grinding since 2022, carving a jagged niche in the indie scene with a sound that’s tough to pin down.
Picture 70s and 80s rock riffs crashing into punk’s snarl, then smoothed out with a poppy wave gloss and a dash of rap-inflected lyrics.
It’s weird, it’s deliberate, and it’s got a keen ear for both sonic oddities and hooks that stick. Ruggiero writes, composes, and produces, channeling Brussels’ alternative underbelly into something raw yet polished.
The five-piece has logged miles across Europe—Windmill Brixton in the UK, Point Ephémère in France, Left of the Dial in the Netherlands, plus local staples like Microfestival and Absolutely Free Festival. Live, they’re a mix of fun and tension, sexy and groovy, a tightrope walk between control and chaos.
“Ride the Dragon” lands as a languid, choppy beast—guitars slice through a laid-back rhythm, carrying lyrics that drip with weariness and a sly, amused edge. It’s a cynical fable, Ruggiero says, aimed squarely at men while doubling as a love letter to femininity. The dragon here isn’t some fantasy trope—it’s a metaphor for women who refuse to bend, bold and unapologetic. The track sways between defiance and exhaustion, mirroring the push-pull of emancipation it’s chasing. This isn’t preachy; it’s too sharp for that, too aware of the absurdity in the fight.
The video, directed by Felicitas Jander and edited by Ruggiero herself, leans into that tension. It’s a stark, direct jab at rock video clichés, pulling instead from hip-hop’s playbook—frontal framing, static-shot vignettes, and over-the-top styling. A fallen bride stalks through a dark, fractured world, caught between judgment and desire.
Jander calls it a break from convention, blending glam rock’s flash with campy excess. The bride, traditionally a symbol of docile femininity, flips into something transgressive—a femme fatale wandering a landscape that can’t decide if it wants to worship or condemn her. Each shot’s composed like a painting, symmetrical and heavy, while the vignettes splinter off into their own aesthetics, reflecting femininity’s many masks: muse, threat, prize. The editing’s sharp and rhythmic, matching the song’s binary pulse with cuts that hit like a clenched fist.
This isn’t Purrses’ first rodeo. They’ve got a self-produced debut EP under their belt and a second, Wrong Tide, recorded fully analog and released through JauneOrange, Rockerill Records, and Belly Button Records. Reality Fantasy, though, feels like a step into stranger territory. With Luc Bersier of Reymour on production, it mixes analog grit with digital sheen, promising something experimental yet grounded.
The band’s sound—untamable, modern, a little unpredictable—feels like rock mutating in real time.
