Call The Wolf – People Disappear
Similar artists: Alkaline Trio, Thrice, Teenage Wrist, Quicksand
Genre: Punk, Alternative Rock
Folks lie about what they like to try and sound more impressive. Sure, you can always claim to like Peruvian experimental music and post-modern writers out of Lithuania. But why not just say that you enjoy punk songs and comic books? It may not just be more honest. You may be helping others find a connection with art and, ultimately, make their own.
Life’s for living and art, of all types, is meant to be used across life. I am sure that there’s a college professor right now writing a paper on the works of Ivan Turgenev. But, the likelihood of anyone reading it and being inspired to become someone like Turgenev is very small. On the other hand, I am sure that someone hearing three-chord, hooky punk rock for the first time may be interested in starting a band, writing their own songs, and living with that music.
Call The Wolf’s “People Disappear” is such a hooky punk-rock song that it seems almost inevitable that it will inspire imitators. Which band wouldn’t want to transform their collective anger and disappointment into something that begs to be played on repeat? Still, even Call the Wolf have their predecessors, with a sound that feels equally inspired by artsy groups like Thrice and poppy groups like Sum-41. That may have been the music that made Call the Wolf want to push forward, and this song could just be the one that helps new punk musicians out.
Heavy Lag – Time Was Never On My Side
Similar artists: Houseghost, Tightwire, The Marked Men, Mean Jeans, Tenement
Genre: Skate Punk, Punk, Garage Rock
How well can you control your car if you need to drive twice as fast as you regularly do? How about if the steering wheel stops working and the wheels start wobbling off? That’s similar to how punk rock feels as compared to regular pop songs. It’s built on the same principles, sure. But everything is done faster, frantically, with the sense that things could break down at any time.
Nah, unlike most modern metal or noise-rock, punk music cares about entertaining audiences and even leaving them with a tune that they can hum on the bus ride home after a show. What punk rock can’t afford to do is slow down, lose grip, or have musicians reconsider their moves. Because of that, there’s always a danger that things will break down at any second.
That is part of the appeal. Heavy Lag’s “Time Was Never On My Side” is an excellently crafted ballad about fearing what the future may hold if that ballad was played by the band four times as quickly and with the intensity of someone who’s not sure whether they will ever get to do the things that they love again. Is there a sense of despair captured here? Sure, but you do need extreme circumstances to have these become part of the formula, right?
