Wedgy – I Can’t Address It
You won’t ever go anywhere if you’re too worried about getting mud on your expensive white tennis shoes. And the more you keep them clean, the more you’ll worry, and the more this attitude will carry on in all aspects of your life.
I get to listen to a lot of music on a daily basis. And, to be quite frank, much of it is so good that I constantly have to fight off the urge to give up trying to come up with anything creative of my own. However, the vast majority of even the best material is written by people trying to keep their tennis shoes spotless.
Rock musicians, singers especially, risk a lot when they go out there without anything to shield them other than their words and ideas. Still, as in the cases of the music Leeds alt-rock band Wedgy, they surrender themselves to chance, and the best possible outcomes are invited.
On “I Can’t Address It,” Wedgy deliver sturdy shoegaze-influenced grunge that’s punctuated by the kind of vocals that, at times, approach the intensity of a nervous breakdown. But how else are you going to believe that what a singer is saying could be true? How else is the story going to mean anything to us? The band takes great risks here, and that daringness is rewarded.
ratstallion – Termite
There are two types of people who seriously go for making rock music – Sammy Hagar-type people and artists. Oh, it must be wonderful to be Mr Hagar. It must be swell to have your hair look so good, have your voice hold up well into your 70s, and for your only concerns in life, judging by the innumerable atrocious lyrics he’s written, to surround automobiles and good-looking love interests.
But don’t get sad if you’re nothing like the former Van Halen singer. Of him, there are many, and while they may well have a better time, nobody will ever confuse their work for art, few will judge it as meaningful, and only someone engaged in tripping their minds away will ever feel their life changed by one of their songs. On the other hand, ratstallion deals with the kind of things that help to create great art, and force you to invest your paycheck to counteract with therapy sessions.
There’s something wholly vulnerable about ratstallion on the group’s single “Termite.” But all of that tenderness is dressed up in pure fits of rage. This is not just music about obsessive thoughts and the anxiety that follows them. This is not just a topic that will be familiar, sadly, for most creative types. More than anything, what ratstallion manages to do here, especially through the strong vocal performance, is to create a sonic psychodrama that offers the perfect audio accompaniment to the ideas expressed through the lyrics.
