Music Review: NONONO "Pumpin' Blood"

NONONO

Pumpin’ Blood

Album: Pumpin’ Blood EP

Year: 2013

 
          Stina Wappling joins a friend on a drive to forget the harsh words said in the jovial “Pumpin’ Blood.”

A chipper guitar opens the single, setting an optimistic tone.  Next to her, she and her friend overhead another girl puckering her lips and making kissing noises. Her friend, tears glistening in her eyes, whispered to her that they are leaving now. Once in the car, her friend shouted and said she felt free. It was as though the words disappeared within the paint on the lines on the road. Wappling tells her friend that she can’t let the other girl bother her. She’s only making herself miserable.(“Hey heart on the road again/Moving on forward/Sticks and stones won’t break our bones/We’re in a car on the highway/It’s a magical feeling that no one’s got a hold/You’re a catalyst to your happiness you know.”)

        In the chorus, she says life is theirs to enjoy. They are healthy and have years ahead of them. The electricity of people living is indisputable.  (“This is your heart, it’s alive/It’s pumping blood/And it’s your heart, it’s alive/It’s pumping blood/And the whole world is whistling/And it’s whistling.”)

She looks throughout the halls for her friend. After finding out from someone she left, Wappling catches up with her in the parking lot. Her friend rolls down the window and she tells her friend she’s not made up of those words. She’s a good person and she shouldn’t be ashamed of it. She continues by saying that although it’s scary and liberating, she can control how much power people have over her. (“Hey heart on the run again/Driving strong forward/Sticks and stones won’t take its course/You got the part in the front seat/It’s the best and worst feeling that nothing can go wrong/You’re the decider of the world you will get to know.”)

An edited chorus is sung, with the extra “and it’s whistling” at the end gone.

        In the bridge, she beckons to her friend, trying to get her to listen. (“Hey heart on the road again/On the highway on the highway/Hey heart on the road again/On the highway on the highway.”)

         The second chorus is sung again to end the single. (“‘Cause it’s your heart, it’s alive/It’s pumping blood/Yeah, it’s your heart, it’s alive, it’s pumping blood/It’s pumping blood/And the whole world is whistling/And it’s whistling/And it’s whistling.”)

Wappling’s ghostly vocals try to lead her friend back to her former confident self. Every time, her friend leaves, she comes home sooner than before. She’s gone through her friend’s darkness. It aged her and she wants to stop it from happening to her friend.

   The lively “Pumpin’ Blood” bounces in its endless supply of energy, fortunate for each breath of life.