Strange Wilds – Subjective Concepts

Olympia-based punks offer Sub Pop debut...

It must be tough when you're a three-piece band from Seattle. Even as the clock ticks inexorably towards the 24th anniversary of the release of 'Nevermind' there can be no escaping the fact that if your music is angsty, fast, loud and full of melodic elements followed by full-throttle, throat-shredding choruses, the sceptre of Nirvana and the hundreds of bands that tried to follow their slipstream and capitalise on their success will loom large over you. What's a band to do?

In the case of Strange Wilds, the answer seems to be to accept that these comparisons are inevitable, and to rock as hard as humanly possible. Which they do throughout their debut album for Sub Pop. Opening with the driving riff of 'Pronoia', the pace and intensity is unremitting. Bassist Sean (the band choose not to deal in second names) supplies a powerfully picked undercarriage, guitars squall and scream, and the drums are seismic. All of this serves merely to propel towards the alternately spoken and screamed vocals. This is the hit single The Vines never had, and as a statement of intent it's incendiary.

'Autothysis' has melodic and harmonic hallmarks of that classic grunge sound. When the hoped-for explosion comes in the song's latter section it is intensely satisfying. Whereas the gloriously titled 'Egophilia' is a straight-ahead post-hardcore workout, as the band stretches itself into more contemporary sounds and modes. The rhythmic intricacy and precision on show is impressive.

'Pareidolia' serves, again, to show that there is a breadth and depth to this band which forces them not to be dismissed as mere grunge copyists. As the hyper-melodic chorus emerges from the discordant gloom it is a wonderful moment. 'Terrible', sounding like a sure-fire radio hit in the making, shows compositional maturity in the midst of the noise, as time signature changes and crescendos are handled with considerable aplomb.

Strange Wilds carry more than a hint of their illustrious heritage. However, they have plenty to make them stand out from the crowd. The legacy of Seattle grunge is alive and well and being extended in the hands of Strange Wilds.

7/10

Words: Haydon Spenceley

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