Album Review: Wild Pink – ‘Wild Pink’

Wild Pink are a three piece Power Pop band from the glamorous City of New York, and although the connotations of the City are big and beautiful, the band show the grittier and dirtier side of the City through their music. While the band were finding and honing their sound, they released a couple of successful EP’s, which has led them to release their self-entitled debut Record ‘Wild Pink’.

Having never really heard them before it was interesting to see what the band were going to produce and bring to the plate, however the album comes as a pleasant surprise delivering a solid set songs with some great standout tracks.

‘How do you know if god takes you back’ kicks the album off with a slow start with an interesting story told by lead singer John Ross, which comes across incredibly personal giving it that realistic tone. It really starts to find its feet when ‘Great Apes’ comes storming in and the volume is picked up and the guitars are completely driven into your ears. This is a great showcase for their mid-fi vibe as it showcases these slightly under produced vocals on top of the roaring guitars.

The album embodies some heavy 90’s mid-fi influences and they utilise incredibly well by developing their own sound around it, and don’t rip any other band off. ‘Battle of Bedford Falls’ is an example of this, as it really leans on those special qualities which make that genre so unique. John’s great lyrics are a joy to listen to on this track, as he tells a sad tale around it all, and it’s beautiful to listen to it all tie together.

An unfortunate feature of the album are the levels on the vocals as sometimes John’s vocals are completely lost, as you try your upmost to listen in and grasp every bit of information but it still remains difficult at times. Understandably this could be intentional, however it’s vital that the listener can hear what message you’re trying to convey through the song.

Towards the end we’re gifted with the slow-paced masterpiece in ‘Wanting Things Makes You Shittier’, which you can only laugh with glee when you read the title. The whole arrangement of the song is perfect with the acoustic guitar, John’s soft vocals and the subtle reverb on it. Again it seems like a very personal song, which only can be commended when you share your life on a track. For the closer you have the political ‘They Hate Our Freedom’ John sings about how the higher powers hate how free we are, which always makes for a good song theme, especially when it’s backed with powerful drums.

The Record serves as a perfect base for the New York band as they set up their stall and highlight their skilled song writing techniques and catchy power chord guitar riffs. It would be great to hear Wild Pink maybe step out of their comfort zone in their next album venture and continue to push their own boundaries.

Words by Alex Wise @AJWise

7.5/10

Favourite Tracks: ‘Great Apes’, ‘Battle of Bedford Falls’, ‘Nothing to Show’ and ‘Wanting Things Make You Shittier’.

 

Fragile Creatures – ‘Fragile Creatures’ EP Review

As good as a full album is sometimes you just cannot beat a tasty little EP, and Fragile Creatures have shown this with their debut EP release entitled ‘Fragile Creatures. Full of melodic indie songs the band have nailed what an EP should do, getting people interested for future releases.

The EP opens up with self-entitled track ‘Fragile Creatures’ which is an ideal opener as it shows their whole sound off in one track. You have this smart indie feel to it as it is all pieced together like a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, as nothing is out of place and everything fits perfectly.

‘Sunshine’ then comes bursting in with a funky riff which is reminiscent of The Coral and their catchier tunes. Although it has this upbeat feel surrounding it with the upstrokes of the guitar, it has this dark tone to it which makes the upbeat parts seem even more jumpy.

All of the songs on the EP are supported by great vocals and lyrics which add to the songs entertainment value, this is best exhibited best in ‘Stoneways’ as the band take a stab at the World and the way works.

The EP finishes strongly with ‘End of the World (for two)’ as it paints this bleak picture of the World ending, but yet still being happy as he is with the one he loves. In places he reminds you of Damon Albarn and how he subtly sings, however Kidd still has this personal touch to it as he offers you to dance.

The EP is a strong start as it would be for any band, and with more releases like this you will see their fan base begin to grow. It would have been great to hear more from the vocals; however it still blended very well with the music. Also, some more upbeat songs would be great to hear from the band as it’s probably where they are at their strongest.

7.0/10

 

Words By Alex Wise @al4563